This Week's Focus Passage https://www.fellowship-greenville.org Thu, 28 Mar 2024 21:09:54 -0400 http://churchplantmedia.com/ This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 26:29 ‘Until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023MAR12_MATT26-29 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023MAR12_MATT26-29#comments Sat, 11 Mar 2023 10:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023MAR12_MATT26-29 This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 26:29

‘Until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’

    What a day that will be; that day when the Bridegroom shall come for His bride, the Church, and take us away to the marriage supper of the Lamb. It should be no wonder if we long for that day in a manner and with a true heart after God entirely superlative to that longing that a maiden has as she awaits her wedding day, which is but a dim shadow by comparison with the coming of our Bridegroom. Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, who is like unto Thee, must we cry! This is the true consummation of all things; the summary of all of God’s plans for the exaltation of His Son, and for His own glory. Did not Isaiah speak of this very day, by way of prophecy, many years before the advent of the One who was happily announced by the Friend of the Bridegroom that pointed Him out to the view of his hearers as ‘The Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world?’ Was not John the Baptizer speaking of the same Bridegroom and the same marriage supper of the Lamb of whom Isaiah spoke in Isaiah 25:6-8, when he beautifully and wonderfully declared?

 

        ‘And in this mountain will Jehovah of hosts make unto all     peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full     of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this     mountain the face of the covering that covereth all peoples, and the veil     that is spread over all nations. He hath swallowed up death for ever;     and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the     reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth: for     Jehovah hath spoken it.’

 

    When Isaiah speaks of such things as ‘all peoples,’ as well as, ‘a feast of wines on the lees,’ along with, ‘He hath swallowed up death for ever,’ including, ‘the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces,’ and finally, that, ‘the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth;’ what could he be making reference to if not ‘that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom’? The ‘all peoples’ is a common metaphor for the ultimate inclusion of all the Gentiles, or all of the nations; ‘a feast of wines on the lees’ certainly puts us in mind of these very words of our Savior spoken to his own disciples at the inauguration of the Lord’s supper. ‘He hath swallowed up death for ever,’ is quoted by the apostle Paul as he speaks of the last things, as another apostle, in his Revelation of Jesus Christ, alludes to the expectation that, ‘the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces’ in his seventh chapter of that book which brings the canon of the Scriptures to its close. Matthew Henry seems to agree with this eschatological understanding of Isaiah; he has said:

 

        If we suppose (as many do) that this refers to the great joy     which there should be in Zion and Jerusalem when the army of the     Assyrians was routed by an angel, or when the Jews were released out     of their captivity in Babylon, or upon occasion of some other equally     surprising deliverance, yet we cannot avoid making it to look further, to     the grace of the gospel and the glory which is the crown and consumm-

    ation of that grace; for it is at our resurrection through Christ that the     saying here written shall be brought to pass; then, and not till then (if     we may believe St. Paul), it shall have its full accomplishment: Death is     swallowed up in victory, 1 Cor. xv. 54. This is a key to the rest of the     promises here connected together. And so we have here a prophecy of     the salvation and the grace brought unto us by Jesus Christ, into which     the prophets enquired and searched diligently, 1 Pet. I 10.

 

    While we are perhaps slumbering and sleeping as did both the wise and the foolish virgins of Matthew 25, what joy it shall be at the time we hear that midnight cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him.’ Those of us, who by God’s grace have oil in our lamps, and are ready will go in with him to the marriage feast, and the door will be shut. But what after the door is shut? Will we not experience that promised blessing expressed in Luke 12:37, where Jesus has said, ‘Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them?’   At time will the children of Abraham according to faith see their Melchizedek bring forth bread and wine. Then will we understand more fully perhaps the statement of the marveling steward of the wedding feast in John 2, when he exclaimed, ‘But thou hast kept the best wine for last.’

 

    We recall that Jesus in His glorified body, prior to His ascension, demonstrated to His disciples that His was a real body. In His post-resurrection appearance, Jesus ate both bread and fish with His disciples, but there is no record that he partook of any wine with them on those occasions. Does this not perfectly concur with His promise, ‘I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’? That wonderful privilege is likely reserved for the marriage supper of the Lamb when He shall drink the fruit of the vine anew with us in His Father’s kingdom. What joy it shall be when we hear the voice of a certain king, saying, ‘Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast.’ Matthew 22:4. 

 

    In Acts 10:11ff., we read of Peter, ‘the heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth: wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the heaven. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common and unclean. And a voice came unto him the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common.’ When the Bridegroom passes that blessed cup that He, and we, have waited to drink anew with Him in His Father’s kingdom, can we imagine any one of the privileged guests saying, ‘Not so, Lord?’

 

David Farmer

Elder, Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 26:29

‘Until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’

    What a day that will be; that day when the Bridegroom shall come for His bride, the Church, and take us away to the marriage supper of the Lamb. It should be no wonder if we long for that day in a manner and with a true heart after God entirely superlative to that longing that a maiden has as she awaits her wedding day, which is but a dim shadow by comparison with the coming of our Bridegroom. Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, who is like unto Thee, must we cry! This is the true consummation of all things; the summary of all of God’s plans for the exaltation of His Son, and for His own glory. Did not Isaiah speak of this very day, by way of prophecy, many years before the advent of the One who was happily announced by the Friend of the Bridegroom that pointed Him out to the view of his hearers as ‘The Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world?’ Was not John the Baptizer speaking of the same Bridegroom and the same marriage supper of the Lamb of whom Isaiah spoke in Isaiah 25:6-8, when he beautifully and wonderfully declared?

 

        ‘And in this mountain will Jehovah of hosts make unto all     peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full     of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this     mountain the face of the covering that covereth all peoples, and the veil     that is spread over all nations. He hath swallowed up death for ever;     and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the     reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth: for     Jehovah hath spoken it.’

 

    When Isaiah speaks of such things as ‘all peoples,’ as well as, ‘a feast of wines on the lees,’ along with, ‘He hath swallowed up death for ever,’ including, ‘the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces,’ and finally, that, ‘the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth;’ what could he be making reference to if not ‘that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom’? The ‘all peoples’ is a common metaphor for the ultimate inclusion of all the Gentiles, or all of the nations; ‘a feast of wines on the lees’ certainly puts us in mind of these very words of our Savior spoken to his own disciples at the inauguration of the Lord’s supper. ‘He hath swallowed up death for ever,’ is quoted by the apostle Paul as he speaks of the last things, as another apostle, in his Revelation of Jesus Christ, alludes to the expectation that, ‘the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces’ in his seventh chapter of that book which brings the canon of the Scriptures to its close. Matthew Henry seems to agree with this eschatological understanding of Isaiah; he has said:

 

        If we suppose (as many do) that this refers to the great joy     which there should be in Zion and Jerusalem when the army of the     Assyrians was routed by an angel, or when the Jews were released out     of their captivity in Babylon, or upon occasion of some other equally     surprising deliverance, yet we cannot avoid making it to look further, to     the grace of the gospel and the glory which is the crown and consumm-

    ation of that grace; for it is at our resurrection through Christ that the     saying here written shall be brought to pass; then, and not till then (if     we may believe St. Paul), it shall have its full accomplishment: Death is     swallowed up in victory, 1 Cor. xv. 54. This is a key to the rest of the     promises here connected together. And so we have here a prophecy of     the salvation and the grace brought unto us by Jesus Christ, into which     the prophets enquired and searched diligently, 1 Pet. I 10.

 

    While we are perhaps slumbering and sleeping as did both the wise and the foolish virgins of Matthew 25, what joy it shall be at the time we hear that midnight cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him.’ Those of us, who by God’s grace have oil in our lamps, and are ready will go in with him to the marriage feast, and the door will be shut. But what after the door is shut? Will we not experience that promised blessing expressed in Luke 12:37, where Jesus has said, ‘Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them?’   At time will the children of Abraham according to faith see their Melchizedek bring forth bread and wine. Then will we understand more fully perhaps the statement of the marveling steward of the wedding feast in John 2, when he exclaimed, ‘But thou hast kept the best wine for last.’

 

    We recall that Jesus in His glorified body, prior to His ascension, demonstrated to His disciples that His was a real body. In His post-resurrection appearance, Jesus ate both bread and fish with His disciples, but there is no record that he partook of any wine with them on those occasions. Does this not perfectly concur with His promise, ‘I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’? That wonderful privilege is likely reserved for the marriage supper of the Lamb when He shall drink the fruit of the vine anew with us in His Father’s kingdom. What joy it shall be when we hear the voice of a certain king, saying, ‘Behold, I have made ready my dinner; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage feast.’ Matthew 22:4. 

 

    In Acts 10:11ff., we read of Peter, ‘the heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending, as it were a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth: wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the heaven. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common and unclean. And a voice came unto him the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common.’ When the Bridegroom passes that blessed cup that He, and we, have waited to drink anew with Him in His Father’s kingdom, can we imagine any one of the privileged guests saying, ‘Not so, Lord?’

 

David Farmer

Elder, Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 55:6 ‘Oh that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away, and b https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023MAR5_psalm55-6 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023MAR5_psalm55-6#comments Sat, 04 Mar 2023 10:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023MAR5_psalm55-6 This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 55:6

‘Oh that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away, and be at rest.’

 

    David has begun this fifty-fifth psalm with pleadings unto Jehovah, that He would grant to give him [David] a hearing; thus he cries unto Him:

Give ear to my prayer, O God; And hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and answer me: I am restless in my complaint, and moan, Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they cast iniquity upon me, And in anger they persecute me. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are  come upon me, And horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, I would lodge in the wilderness. [Selah.                                                        –Psalm 55:1-7 ASV1901.

 

One writer has begun his comments upon this psalm of David, with the following expressions, which certainly speak of both David, the son of Jesse, as well as of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, and the Son of God. 

“Such a cry as this helps to make the Psalter a book for the extre-mities of experience as well as for its normalities. The person who is driven to distraction finds a fellow-sufferer here; the rest of us may find a guide to our intercessions, so that we can pray with our brethren ‘as though in prison’ (or other distress) ‘with them’ (Heb. 13:3*). Further, the heart-rending passages on the betrayal (12ff., 20f.) give us added insight into the sufferings of Christ, and at the same time into His self-mastery and redemptive attitude, in such a situation as gave David every reason to appeal for judgment.”

*Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; them that are ill-treated, as being yourself also in the body.—Hebrews 13:3. 

Such thoughts spontaneously bring to our memories, the many trials and persecutions endured by David. After King Saul had gone against the directions of Jehovah with regard to his failure to deal with the Amalekites, as he was clearly told to do. We read of that certain direction  given Saul, in 1 Samuel 15:2, in unequivocal language from God; Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way when he came out of Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Remarkable in its inclusion of that which involves all that they have. All means just that!

And in verse nine of the same chapter, we read of Saul’s abject disobedience.

And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good. In other words, they ‘choiced the line,’ they took all that was good, in their eyes, unto themselves. They denied God’s command.

Saul followed Frank Sinatra, and ‘did it my way,’ rather than the way of God.    But God is not mocked; Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. [Galatians 6:7]. King Saul sowed his seeds of rebellion against his God, and he reaped the loss of his kingdom; it was taken away from him by the God who gave it; Jehovah Sabaoth. But to return to our subject; that of David’s wishing to fly away from his troubles and be at rest. We must, each of us, confess that oftentimes when found in any such similar strait, we would much rather crawl into some hole, if we could, rather than face the problem. This is most natural, is it not?

However, that does not, necessarily, mean that it is right. And it certainly was not right for David to behave as he did as recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter of that book, when he fled from Saul, and we must most sadly read; And David laid up these words in his heart, and he was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.—1 Samuel 21:12-13. We suggest, and rather strongly, that such behavior was not becoming the king of Judah, not in the least. Yet, immediately following that particular occasion, we may read what might be [we are not specifically told] the means of escaping both Saul and Achish, for the very next chapter of 1 Samuel informs us that David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brethren and all father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men.—1 Samuel 22.

The Cave of Adullam, we are told, “was originally a stronghold referred to in the Old Testament, near the town of Adullam, where future king David sought refuge from King Saul. The word cave is usually used, but ‘fortress’ which has a similar appearance is used as well.” We do think, almost immediately, of the hymn, “A mighty Fortress is our God,” and it would seem that God Himself provided this refuge for David. The lesson seems clear, does it not; we should wait upon our God for the proper direction in all things, no matter how these things may appear to us.

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 55:6

‘Oh that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away, and be at rest.’

 

    David has begun this fifty-fifth psalm with pleadings unto Jehovah, that He would grant to give him [David] a hearing; thus he cries unto Him:

Give ear to my prayer, O God; And hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and answer me: I am restless in my complaint, and moan, Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they cast iniquity upon me, And in anger they persecute me. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are  come upon me, And horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, I would lodge in the wilderness. [Selah.                                                        –Psalm 55:1-7 ASV1901.

 

One writer has begun his comments upon this psalm of David, with the following expressions, which certainly speak of both David, the son of Jesse, as well as of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, and the Son of God. 

“Such a cry as this helps to make the Psalter a book for the extre-mities of experience as well as for its normalities. The person who is driven to distraction finds a fellow-sufferer here; the rest of us may find a guide to our intercessions, so that we can pray with our brethren ‘as though in prison’ (or other distress) ‘with them’ (Heb. 13:3*). Further, the heart-rending passages on the betrayal (12ff., 20f.) give us added insight into the sufferings of Christ, and at the same time into His self-mastery and redemptive attitude, in such a situation as gave David every reason to appeal for judgment.”

*Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; them that are ill-treated, as being yourself also in the body.—Hebrews 13:3. 

Such thoughts spontaneously bring to our memories, the many trials and persecutions endured by David. After King Saul had gone against the directions of Jehovah with regard to his failure to deal with the Amalekites, as he was clearly told to do. We read of that certain direction  given Saul, in 1 Samuel 15:2, in unequivocal language from God; Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way when he came out of Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Remarkable in its inclusion of that which involves all that they have. All means just that!

And in verse nine of the same chapter, we read of Saul’s abject disobedience.

And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good. In other words, they ‘choiced the line,’ they took all that was good, in their eyes, unto themselves. They denied God’s command.

Saul followed Frank Sinatra, and ‘did it my way,’ rather than the way of God.    But God is not mocked; Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. [Galatians 6:7]. King Saul sowed his seeds of rebellion against his God, and he reaped the loss of his kingdom; it was taken away from him by the God who gave it; Jehovah Sabaoth. But to return to our subject; that of David’s wishing to fly away from his troubles and be at rest. We must, each of us, confess that oftentimes when found in any such similar strait, we would much rather crawl into some hole, if we could, rather than face the problem. This is most natural, is it not?

However, that does not, necessarily, mean that it is right. And it certainly was not right for David to behave as he did as recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter of that book, when he fled from Saul, and we must most sadly read; And David laid up these words in his heart, and he was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.—1 Samuel 21:12-13. We suggest, and rather strongly, that such behavior was not becoming the king of Judah, not in the least. Yet, immediately following that particular occasion, we may read what might be [we are not specifically told] the means of escaping both Saul and Achish, for the very next chapter of 1 Samuel informs us that David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brethren and all father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men.—1 Samuel 22.

The Cave of Adullam, we are told, “was originally a stronghold referred to in the Old Testament, near the town of Adullam, where future king David sought refuge from King Saul. The word cave is usually used, but ‘fortress’ which has a similar appearance is used as well.” We do think, almost immediately, of the hymn, “A mighty Fortress is our God,” and it would seem that God Himself provided this refuge for David. The lesson seems clear, does it not; we should wait upon our God for the proper direction in all things, no matter how these things may appear to us.

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 55:6 ‘Oh that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away, and b https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023MAR5_psalm55-6_2 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023MAR5_psalm55-6_2#comments Sat, 04 Mar 2023 10:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023MAR5_psalm55-6_2 This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 55:6

‘Oh that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away, and be at rest.’

 

    David has begun this fifty-fifth psalm with pleadings unto Jehovah, that He would grant to give him [David] a hearing; thus he cries unto Him:

Give ear to my prayer, O God; And hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and answer me: I am restless in my complaint, and moan, Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they cast iniquity upon me, And in anger they persecute me. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are  come upon me, And horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, I would lodge in the wilderness. [Selah.                                                        –Psalm 55:1-7 ASV1901.

 

One writer has begun his comments upon this psalm of David, with the following expressions, which certainly speak of both David, the son of Jesse, as well as of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, and the Son of God. 

“Such a cry as this helps to make the Psalter a book for the extre-mities of experience as well as for its normalities. The person who is driven to distraction finds a fellow-sufferer here; the rest of us may find a guide to our intercessions, so that we can pray with our brethren ‘as though in prison’ (or other distress) ‘with them’ (Heb. 13:3*). Further, the heart-rending passages on the betrayal (12ff., 20f.) give us added insight into the sufferings of Christ, and at the same time into His self-mastery and redemptive attitude, in such a situation as gave David every reason to appeal for judgment.”

*Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; them that are ill-treated, as being yourself also in the body.—Hebrews 13:3. 

Such thoughts spontaneously bring to our memories, the many trials and persecutions endured by David. After King Saul had gone against the directions of Jehovah with regard to his failure to deal with the Amalekites, as he was clearly told to do. We read of that certain direction  given Saul, in 1 Samuel 15:2, in unequivocal language from God; Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way when he came out of Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Remarkable in its inclusion of that which involves all that they have. All means just that!

And in verse nine of the same chapter, we read of Saul’s abject disobedience.

And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good. In other words, they ‘choiced the line,’ they took all that was good, in their eyes, unto themselves. They denied God’s command.

Saul followed Frank Sinatra, and ‘did it my way,’ rather than the way of God.    But God is not mocked; Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. [Galatians 6:7]. King Saul sowed his seeds of rebellion against his God, and he reaped the loss of his kingdom; it was taken away from him by the God who gave it; Jehovah Sabaoth. But to return to our subject; that of David’s wishing to fly away from his troubles and be at rest. We must, each of us, confess that oftentimes when found in any such similar strait, we would much rather crawl into some hole, if we could, rather than face the problem. This is most natural, is it not?

However, that does not, necessarily, mean that it is right. And it certainly was not right for David to behave as he did as recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter of that book, when he fled from Saul, and we must most sadly read; And David laid up these words in his heart, and he was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.—1 Samuel 21:12-13. We suggest, and rather strongly, that such behavior was not becoming the king of Judah, not in the least. Yet, immediately following that particular occasion, we may read what might be [we are not specifically told] the means of escaping both Saul and Achish, for the very next chapter of 1 Samuel informs us that David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brethren and all father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men.—1 Samuel 22.

The Cave of Adullam, we are told, “was originally a stronghold referred to in the Old Testament, near the town of Adullam, where future king David sought refuge from King Saul. The word cave is usually used, but ‘fortress’ which has a similar appearance is used as well.” We do think, almost immediately, of the hymn, “A mighty Fortress is our God,” and it would seem that God Himself provided this refuge for David. The lesson seems clear, does it not; we should wait upon our God for the proper direction in all things, no matter how these things may appear to us.

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 55:6

‘Oh that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away, and be at rest.’

 

    David has begun this fifty-fifth psalm with pleadings unto Jehovah, that He would grant to give him [David] a hearing; thus he cries unto Him:

Give ear to my prayer, O God; And hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and answer me: I am restless in my complaint, and moan, Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they cast iniquity upon me, And in anger they persecute me. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are  come upon me, And horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, I would lodge in the wilderness. [Selah.                                                        –Psalm 55:1-7 ASV1901.

 

One writer has begun his comments upon this psalm of David, with the following expressions, which certainly speak of both David, the son of Jesse, as well as of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, and the Son of God. 

“Such a cry as this helps to make the Psalter a book for the extre-mities of experience as well as for its normalities. The person who is driven to distraction finds a fellow-sufferer here; the rest of us may find a guide to our intercessions, so that we can pray with our brethren ‘as though in prison’ (or other distress) ‘with them’ (Heb. 13:3*). Further, the heart-rending passages on the betrayal (12ff., 20f.) give us added insight into the sufferings of Christ, and at the same time into His self-mastery and redemptive attitude, in such a situation as gave David every reason to appeal for judgment.”

*Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; them that are ill-treated, as being yourself also in the body.—Hebrews 13:3. 

Such thoughts spontaneously bring to our memories, the many trials and persecutions endured by David. After King Saul had gone against the directions of Jehovah with regard to his failure to deal with the Amalekites, as he was clearly told to do. We read of that certain direction  given Saul, in 1 Samuel 15:2, in unequivocal language from God; Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way when he came out of Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Remarkable in its inclusion of that which involves all that they have. All means just that!

And in verse nine of the same chapter, we read of Saul’s abject disobedience.

And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good. In other words, they ‘choiced the line,’ they took all that was good, in their eyes, unto themselves. They denied God’s command.

Saul followed Frank Sinatra, and ‘did it my way,’ rather than the way of God.    But God is not mocked; Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. [Galatians 6:7]. King Saul sowed his seeds of rebellion against his God, and he reaped the loss of his kingdom; it was taken away from him by the God who gave it; Jehovah Sabaoth. But to return to our subject; that of David’s wishing to fly away from his troubles and be at rest. We must, each of us, confess that oftentimes when found in any such similar strait, we would much rather crawl into some hole, if we could, rather than face the problem. This is most natural, is it not?

However, that does not, necessarily, mean that it is right. And it certainly was not right for David to behave as he did as recorded in the twenty-fifth chapter of that book, when he fled from Saul, and we must most sadly read; And David laid up these words in his heart, and he was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.—1 Samuel 21:12-13. We suggest, and rather strongly, that such behavior was not becoming the king of Judah, not in the least. Yet, immediately following that particular occasion, we may read what might be [we are not specifically told] the means of escaping both Saul and Achish, for the very next chapter of 1 Samuel informs us that David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam: and when his brethren and all father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men.—1 Samuel 22.

The Cave of Adullam, we are told, “was originally a stronghold referred to in the Old Testament, near the town of Adullam, where future king David sought refuge from King Saul. The word cave is usually used, but ‘fortress’ which has a similar appearance is used as well.” We do think, almost immediately, of the hymn, “A mighty Fortress is our God,” and it would seem that God Himself provided this refuge for David. The lesson seems clear, does it not; we should wait upon our God for the proper direction in all things, no matter how these things may appear to us.

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

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This Week’s Focus Passage: Romans 1:28 ‘Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge.’ https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023FEB26_Romans1-28 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023FEB26_Romans1-28#comments Sat, 25 Feb 2023 10:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023FEB26_Romans1-28 This Week’s Focus Passage: Romans 1:28

‘Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge.’

 

    ‘Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they have suffered these things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think ye that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.’ Luke 13:1-5. Could we reasonably, and in an admitted anachronism, rephrase and update this pronouncement from the lips of our Lord in stating it thus, ‘These homosexuals, upon whom you would like to see the tower of Siloam fall, and kill them, think ye that they are offenders above all that dwell in our country? I tell you, No: but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish?

    We have recently witnessed the present administration of our country taking this nation further down the road of amorality and, we are tempted to add, with a vengeance. The powers that be have declared that the position of those who hold that the only lawful marriage union is one between a man and a woman, is indefensible, and unconstitutional. What a ‘slippery slope’ this nation has been plummeting down for decades! There was a time, not so far removed, when sin, especially sexual sin, was confined to the closet, as it were. Our society, in general, at that time still considered many of the things, which are now done in the open, to be both immoral, as well as, unacceptable behavior. We have been turned into a people of whom the foremost consideration now seems to be that of permissiveness toward virtually any lifestyle. We have taken to extreme length the axiom, ‘Live and let live,’ where everything is right, and nothing is wrong. Homosexuality is unequivocally wrong. May we be absolutely clear; homosexual behavior is sinful behavior! They are not the only guilty persons, however. Listen as the apostle continues and expands his denunciations at the close of this first chapter of his epistle to the church at Rome. 

And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without under-standing, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful: who knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practice them.’ Romans 1:28-32.

    

    This country, that once even had laws against such things now ‘consent with them that practice them,’ first, by looking the other way and, then eventually sanctioning these practices, and now would make them legally and authoritatively binding, in their view, even according to our constitution. But the reader may be wondering why the passage from Luke 13 was initially cited. It is because, while the writer finds homosexuality a heinous (as well as disgusting) sin, clearly pronounced to be so in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is not the unpardonable sin, and the words of our Savior, “except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.” must be remembered, along with the litany of sins that the apostle declaimed against in the above-cited passage from Romans. In point of fact, could it be that Paul is even suggesting that those who consent to these many sins as well as with homosexual sin, are equally worthy of death? Is the ‘immoral majority’ in our nation not going to be held accountable for much of the behavior that is permitted by their consent? So that, alongside those with this sinful life-style, will be judged those that have granted their consent, from the executive, to the legislative, to the judicial branches of our government that are much more concerned with votes than with integrity.

    We have stated that we do not believe that homosexual behavior is the unpardonable sin, but sin it definitely is. And so is adultery! Indeed, are homosexuals outside the reach of the gospel of salvation? Are adulterers beyond the mercy of God? David and others give witness to the truth that adultery is not unpardonable. And to cite the apostle Paul once more, it is noteworthy that his teaching declares that homosexuals are not outside the reach of the gospel. We are so informed in his first epistle to the church at Corinth when he says, in chapter six, verses nine through eleven:

Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, not covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 

After Paul has made this solemn asseveration which severely denounces the sins listed as those which would prevent one from inheriting the kingdom of God; sin not only of abusing oneself with men, but, and equally, the sins of fornication and adultery and idolatry and drunkenness, and theft, he proclaims that such were some of you!

But ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.  

Not a few have determined that while they cannot dogmatically assert that God cannot, or does not, save homosexuals, yet they will say that they have never met such a person, or even that they have never heard of such a person. Well, Paul had met such, and sets it on record that it is so. This is not an attempt at putting forth a defense of such abhorrent wickedness, but it is to point out at least two things that should be kept in our minds; one, God can, and has, saved abusers of themselves with men, two, adulterers and others listed above are sinners equally in need of the gifts, both of repentance and faith, if they are not to perish.

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Romans 1:28

‘Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge.’

 

    ‘Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they have suffered these things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, think ye that they were offenders above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.’ Luke 13:1-5. Could we reasonably, and in an admitted anachronism, rephrase and update this pronouncement from the lips of our Lord in stating it thus, ‘These homosexuals, upon whom you would like to see the tower of Siloam fall, and kill them, think ye that they are offenders above all that dwell in our country? I tell you, No: but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish?

    We have recently witnessed the present administration of our country taking this nation further down the road of amorality and, we are tempted to add, with a vengeance. The powers that be have declared that the position of those who hold that the only lawful marriage union is one between a man and a woman, is indefensible, and unconstitutional. What a ‘slippery slope’ this nation has been plummeting down for decades! There was a time, not so far removed, when sin, especially sexual sin, was confined to the closet, as it were. Our society, in general, at that time still considered many of the things, which are now done in the open, to be both immoral, as well as, unacceptable behavior. We have been turned into a people of whom the foremost consideration now seems to be that of permissiveness toward virtually any lifestyle. We have taken to extreme length the axiom, ‘Live and let live,’ where everything is right, and nothing is wrong. Homosexuality is unequivocally wrong. May we be absolutely clear; homosexual behavior is sinful behavior! They are not the only guilty persons, however. Listen as the apostle continues and expands his denunciations at the close of this first chapter of his epistle to the church at Rome. 

And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without under-standing, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful: who knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practice them.’ Romans 1:28-32.

    

    This country, that once even had laws against such things now ‘consent with them that practice them,’ first, by looking the other way and, then eventually sanctioning these practices, and now would make them legally and authoritatively binding, in their view, even according to our constitution. But the reader may be wondering why the passage from Luke 13 was initially cited. It is because, while the writer finds homosexuality a heinous (as well as disgusting) sin, clearly pronounced to be so in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is not the unpardonable sin, and the words of our Savior, “except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.” must be remembered, along with the litany of sins that the apostle declaimed against in the above-cited passage from Romans. In point of fact, could it be that Paul is even suggesting that those who consent to these many sins as well as with homosexual sin, are equally worthy of death? Is the ‘immoral majority’ in our nation not going to be held accountable for much of the behavior that is permitted by their consent? So that, alongside those with this sinful life-style, will be judged those that have granted their consent, from the executive, to the legislative, to the judicial branches of our government that are much more concerned with votes than with integrity.

    We have stated that we do not believe that homosexual behavior is the unpardonable sin, but sin it definitely is. And so is adultery! Indeed, are homosexuals outside the reach of the gospel of salvation? Are adulterers beyond the mercy of God? David and others give witness to the truth that adultery is not unpardonable. And to cite the apostle Paul once more, it is noteworthy that his teaching declares that homosexuals are not outside the reach of the gospel. We are so informed in his first epistle to the church at Corinth when he says, in chapter six, verses nine through eleven:

Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, not covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 

After Paul has made this solemn asseveration which severely denounces the sins listed as those which would prevent one from inheriting the kingdom of God; sin not only of abusing oneself with men, but, and equally, the sins of fornication and adultery and idolatry and drunkenness, and theft, he proclaims that such were some of you!

But ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.  

Not a few have determined that while they cannot dogmatically assert that God cannot, or does not, save homosexuals, yet they will say that they have never met such a person, or even that they have never heard of such a person. Well, Paul had met such, and sets it on record that it is so. This is not an attempt at putting forth a defense of such abhorrent wickedness, but it is to point out at least two things that should be kept in our minds; one, God can, and has, saved abusers of themselves with men, two, adulterers and others listed above are sinners equally in need of the gifts, both of repentance and faith, if they are not to perish.

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 46:10 ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230219_psalm46-10 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230219_psalm46-10#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2023 11:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230219_psalm46-10 This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 46:10

‘Be still and know that I am God.’ 

 

    “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” (Originally written in the German language with the title “in feste Berg ist unser Gotte”) is one of the best known hymns by the protestant reformer Martin Luther, a prolific hymn writer. Luther wrote the words and composed the hymn tune between 1527 and 1529. One has well-written the following in regard to the subject matter of this forty-sixth psalm, when writing regarding the psalmist’s thoughts. "Happen what may, the Lord’s people are happy and secure, this is the doctrine of the Psalm, and it might, to help our memories, be known as, The Song of Holy Confidence, were it not that from the great reformer’s love to this soul-stirring hymn it will probably be best known as Luther’s Hymn.” We might be able, happily, to acquiesce with this assessment, to a degree at any rate. However, we feel that the primary thrust of the psalm is to be found in the tenth verse, as we have indicated by our use of that verse for our focus this week. We must cordially, then, demur from joining hands with the author cited above, as he begins firstly with the assessment that , “Happy what may, the Lord’s people are happy and secure, this is the doctrine of the Psalm.” Perhaps, if he had not insisted on that being the doctrine of this psalm, we might be quicker to align with him. But stating that ‘happen what may, the Lord’s people are happy and secure,’ sounds to us too much like a lot of our modern drivel, contained in epithets such as ‘whatever happens, happens, or, ‘don’t’ sweat it, and, get over it.’ We are convinced, as suggested above, that the thrust of the teaching of this psalm is to be found in the glorious words of direction, Be still and know that I am God.  

    And, it must be conspicuously affirmed that this verse is completely absent from Luther’s paraphrase. This is the entire heart and substance of the matter; this is the major problem with paraphrases; that they take much liberty with the Word. In this case, leaving a huge gap. The blessed support for this direction comes to the reader of the psalm from that matter found in the other verses. They are, each of them, clearly stated in verses one, two, five, seven, and eight. We will seek below to express our views of these arguments, one at a time, and attach to verse 10: as reasons why the people of God should learn to “Be still and know that our God is God indeed, our Refuge and our Strength.” 

    The arguments given by the psalmist through God the Holy Spirit, are found, firstly, in verse one where it is strongly affirmed that God is our Refuge and Strength, and furthermore, being our Refuge and our Strength, He is, being the Omniscient One, our “present help in trouble.” These things being absolutely True, why should we not Be Still, and know them?

    The second argument proffered by the psalmist, under inspiration, we remind our reader, is that There is a River, the Streams Whereof make glad the city of our God. The New Testament saint hardly need look very far for the likely intention of the meaning. Simply moving ahead a little to the seventy-eighth psalm, and verse sixteen, recalling that this particular psalm is a registry of the activities of the God of Israel for His people, which our fathers have told us [vs. 3]. So when we read Psalm 46:4, There is a River, our thoughts will extend, almost immediately to 1 Corinthians 10:4, where it is written, by Paul, of Jehovah’s people, traversing the wilderness, and being supplied water when Moses smote the Rock, the apostle writes, for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. Christ is, indeed, Himself, the River, the Streams whereof make glad. And, so once again, we are called upon to Be Still and know that he is God.

    And He, by His Holy Spirit, given to His people, is in the midst of His people; God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; BE STILL.

And, since, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, comprise Triune God, we may truly argue that Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge. Therefore, Be Still and know that I am God. This is the same ‘Stand Still,’ that is found elsewhere spoken by Jehovah to His people. We will remind our reader of that initial delivery, that exodus from Pharaoh and Egypt; how as God’s people were fleeing they came upon the Red Sea that absolutely put a stop, a barricade to their flight. Naturally, they cried unto Jehovah; He heard them; granting Moses to say unto them Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you today.

    Remember, believer, all that God has done for you, and fear not. Stand still. From the day that we first began walking, the most difficult instruction for us from our parents was, Stop, Stand Still. And even today, as redeemed sinners; redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb, we continue imagining that we know best. The most difficult thing for us to do is to wait, but Paul has enjoined us, in Galatians 5:5, For we through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. And also, in Philippians 3:20, For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior. BE STILL !!

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 46:10

‘Be still and know that I am God.’ 

 

    “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” (Originally written in the German language with the title “in feste Berg ist unser Gotte”) is one of the best known hymns by the protestant reformer Martin Luther, a prolific hymn writer. Luther wrote the words and composed the hymn tune between 1527 and 1529. One has well-written the following in regard to the subject matter of this forty-sixth psalm, when writing regarding the psalmist’s thoughts. "Happen what may, the Lord’s people are happy and secure, this is the doctrine of the Psalm, and it might, to help our memories, be known as, The Song of Holy Confidence, were it not that from the great reformer’s love to this soul-stirring hymn it will probably be best known as Luther’s Hymn.” We might be able, happily, to acquiesce with this assessment, to a degree at any rate. However, we feel that the primary thrust of the psalm is to be found in the tenth verse, as we have indicated by our use of that verse for our focus this week. We must cordially, then, demur from joining hands with the author cited above, as he begins firstly with the assessment that , “Happy what may, the Lord’s people are happy and secure, this is the doctrine of the Psalm.” Perhaps, if he had not insisted on that being the doctrine of this psalm, we might be quicker to align with him. But stating that ‘happen what may, the Lord’s people are happy and secure,’ sounds to us too much like a lot of our modern drivel, contained in epithets such as ‘whatever happens, happens, or, ‘don’t’ sweat it, and, get over it.’ We are convinced, as suggested above, that the thrust of the teaching of this psalm is to be found in the glorious words of direction, Be still and know that I am God.  

    And, it must be conspicuously affirmed that this verse is completely absent from Luther’s paraphrase. This is the entire heart and substance of the matter; this is the major problem with paraphrases; that they take much liberty with the Word. In this case, leaving a huge gap. The blessed support for this direction comes to the reader of the psalm from that matter found in the other verses. They are, each of them, clearly stated in verses one, two, five, seven, and eight. We will seek below to express our views of these arguments, one at a time, and attach to verse 10: as reasons why the people of God should learn to “Be still and know that our God is God indeed, our Refuge and our Strength.” 

    The arguments given by the psalmist through God the Holy Spirit, are found, firstly, in verse one where it is strongly affirmed that God is our Refuge and Strength, and furthermore, being our Refuge and our Strength, He is, being the Omniscient One, our “present help in trouble.” These things being absolutely True, why should we not Be Still, and know them?

    The second argument proffered by the psalmist, under inspiration, we remind our reader, is that There is a River, the Streams Whereof make glad the city of our God. The New Testament saint hardly need look very far for the likely intention of the meaning. Simply moving ahead a little to the seventy-eighth psalm, and verse sixteen, recalling that this particular psalm is a registry of the activities of the God of Israel for His people, which our fathers have told us [vs. 3]. So when we read Psalm 46:4, There is a River, our thoughts will extend, almost immediately to 1 Corinthians 10:4, where it is written, by Paul, of Jehovah’s people, traversing the wilderness, and being supplied water when Moses smote the Rock, the apostle writes, for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. Christ is, indeed, Himself, the River, the Streams whereof make glad. And, so once again, we are called upon to Be Still and know that he is God.

    And He, by His Holy Spirit, given to His people, is in the midst of His people; God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; BE STILL.

And, since, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, comprise Triune God, we may truly argue that Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our Refuge. Therefore, Be Still and know that I am God. This is the same ‘Stand Still,’ that is found elsewhere spoken by Jehovah to His people. We will remind our reader of that initial delivery, that exodus from Pharaoh and Egypt; how as God’s people were fleeing they came upon the Red Sea that absolutely put a stop, a barricade to their flight. Naturally, they cried unto Jehovah; He heard them; granting Moses to say unto them Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you today.

    Remember, believer, all that God has done for you, and fear not. Stand still. From the day that we first began walking, the most difficult instruction for us from our parents was, Stop, Stand Still. And even today, as redeemed sinners; redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb, we continue imagining that we know best. The most difficult thing for us to do is to wait, but Paul has enjoined us, in Galatians 5:5, For we through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness. And also, in Philippians 3:20, For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Savior. BE STILL !!

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

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This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 16:12 ‘But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230212_matthew16-12 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230212_matthew16-12#comments Sat, 11 Feb 2023 10:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230212_matthew16-12 This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 16:12

‘But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’

 

    In the text that we are looking at this week, we are told that Jesus made it clear to the disciples that when He spoke of the leaven of the Pharisees that He was telling them to beware of the teaching of those men. How are we to reconcile that statement with another in the twenty-third chapter of this same gospel account, and verses one and two, where Jesus tells His audience, an audience that included His disciples, saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say and do not.’ It seems on the surface that Jesus has contradicted Himself. This calls for a closer look. In the passage from chapter sixteen, the word rendered teaching could be, and often is, rendered doctrine. We would venture to say, with others, that while the connection between doctrine and teaching is apparent, they can not necessarily be and with certainty be declared to be the same thing. One’s doctrine should inform one’s teaching, and one’s teaching should be in agreement with one’s doctrine, yet this is not always the case among mankind for these things are, to a greater or lesser degree, affected by the remains of sin. When our Lord told His disciples, and ourselves, through this Scripture, to beware of the teaching of those Pharisees and Sadducees, He was most likely, making and allusion to the hypocrisy of their behavioral teaching. This would go far to explain how they could sit on Moses’ seat teaching and expounding the law which that patriarch had received directly from God, and yet applying it in such a way that their behavior was frequently inconsistent with what the law truly intended. For this reason, Christ in that twenty-third chapter already alluded to, solemnly imprecates their behavior in a series of denunciations beginning with the startling, ‘But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!’ The title hypocrites was deserved by these men. Christ defends His accusation with examples of their hypocritical attitudes and patterns to which He had reference. These several charges could be summed up in the claim which He had already made when He said that, ‘They say and do not.’ 

    As Christ elsewhere spoke of those upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and of those whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, when He asked, ‘Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans?’ So we might ask ourselves if these Pharisees are worse sinners than all others? Is it not the case of mankind that we are all naturally hypocrites? David has said that we all come forth from our mother’s womb speaking lies. Is this not almost the same thing as saying that we all come forth to the birth as hypocrites? How many times have we heard a parent tell a child, or an employer an employee, or a teacher a student, in effect, ‘Do as I say, don’t do as I do?’ have we never spoken some form of these words ourselves in our lifetime? Surely it is much easier to say than to do what is right and just. While we are naturally more comfortable sitting in the place of a judge than to be standing in the dock, as it were, it would be well for us to have James’ mirror before us that we may judge ourselves, and not to walk away forgetful of what manner of man we have just seen. May God help us by His grace to expunge every and all vestiges of Pharisaism that we may witness in that very mirror.

    Hypocrisy is not the sole property of the Pharisees. It evidently tainted the Sadducees as well. Even though the Sadducees greater concern was for the political well-being and continuation of their nation, they were not free of those Pharisaical appendages which so tenaciously cling to mankind.  Even so, this form of legalism and hypocrisy is not the sole property of those we think of as ‘Reformed.’ It is conspicuous in the attitudes and demeanor of, not only the ostensibly reformed, but in the lives of Baptists and Presbyterians alike; in the lives of Fundamentalist and Liberals equally; in the mannerisms and carriage of both Conservatives and Charismatics with like force; yea, with the Sabbatarian and the anti-sabbatarian with a similar vehemence. Must one necessarily be a member of any of the afore-mentioned groups in order to be a hypocrite? Indeed, is it not only likely, but apparent, that in the realm of politics, few are those who do not say one thing and do another? 

    A definition of Pharisaism offered by a renowned dictionary states that it is a, ‘hypocritical observance of the letter of religious or moral law without regard for the spirit of [of that law]; sanctimoniousness.’ In other words, one may be just as much a Pharisee or hypocrite with respect to their position toward any number of moral issues confronting society today as any religious person toward the teachings and tenets of their particular system. Yet, unlike ourselves, these have not been called to be salt and light in this world; may God help the child of God to be consistent in his or her life. May we be enabled daily to hold up before ourselves the mirror of the Word of God, and after pleading, ‘Search me, O God, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me,’ to be able to pray, ‘who can discern his errors? Clear thou me from hidden faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be clear from great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah!      

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 16:12

‘But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’

 

    In the text that we are looking at this week, we are told that Jesus made it clear to the disciples that when He spoke of the leaven of the Pharisees that He was telling them to beware of the teaching of those men. How are we to reconcile that statement with another in the twenty-third chapter of this same gospel account, and verses one and two, where Jesus tells His audience, an audience that included His disciples, saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say and do not.’ It seems on the surface that Jesus has contradicted Himself. This calls for a closer look. In the passage from chapter sixteen, the word rendered teaching could be, and often is, rendered doctrine. We would venture to say, with others, that while the connection between doctrine and teaching is apparent, they can not necessarily be and with certainty be declared to be the same thing. One’s doctrine should inform one’s teaching, and one’s teaching should be in agreement with one’s doctrine, yet this is not always the case among mankind for these things are, to a greater or lesser degree, affected by the remains of sin. When our Lord told His disciples, and ourselves, through this Scripture, to beware of the teaching of those Pharisees and Sadducees, He was most likely, making and allusion to the hypocrisy of their behavioral teaching. This would go far to explain how they could sit on Moses’ seat teaching and expounding the law which that patriarch had received directly from God, and yet applying it in such a way that their behavior was frequently inconsistent with what the law truly intended. For this reason, Christ in that twenty-third chapter already alluded to, solemnly imprecates their behavior in a series of denunciations beginning with the startling, ‘But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!’ The title hypocrites was deserved by these men. Christ defends His accusation with examples of their hypocritical attitudes and patterns to which He had reference. These several charges could be summed up in the claim which He had already made when He said that, ‘They say and do not.’ 

    As Christ elsewhere spoke of those upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and of those whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, when He asked, ‘Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans?’ So we might ask ourselves if these Pharisees are worse sinners than all others? Is it not the case of mankind that we are all naturally hypocrites? David has said that we all come forth from our mother’s womb speaking lies. Is this not almost the same thing as saying that we all come forth to the birth as hypocrites? How many times have we heard a parent tell a child, or an employer an employee, or a teacher a student, in effect, ‘Do as I say, don’t do as I do?’ have we never spoken some form of these words ourselves in our lifetime? Surely it is much easier to say than to do what is right and just. While we are naturally more comfortable sitting in the place of a judge than to be standing in the dock, as it were, it would be well for us to have James’ mirror before us that we may judge ourselves, and not to walk away forgetful of what manner of man we have just seen. May God help us by His grace to expunge every and all vestiges of Pharisaism that we may witness in that very mirror.

    Hypocrisy is not the sole property of the Pharisees. It evidently tainted the Sadducees as well. Even though the Sadducees greater concern was for the political well-being and continuation of their nation, they were not free of those Pharisaical appendages which so tenaciously cling to mankind.  Even so, this form of legalism and hypocrisy is not the sole property of those we think of as ‘Reformed.’ It is conspicuous in the attitudes and demeanor of, not only the ostensibly reformed, but in the lives of Baptists and Presbyterians alike; in the lives of Fundamentalist and Liberals equally; in the mannerisms and carriage of both Conservatives and Charismatics with like force; yea, with the Sabbatarian and the anti-sabbatarian with a similar vehemence. Must one necessarily be a member of any of the afore-mentioned groups in order to be a hypocrite? Indeed, is it not only likely, but apparent, that in the realm of politics, few are those who do not say one thing and do another? 

    A definition of Pharisaism offered by a renowned dictionary states that it is a, ‘hypocritical observance of the letter of religious or moral law without regard for the spirit of [of that law]; sanctimoniousness.’ In other words, one may be just as much a Pharisee or hypocrite with respect to their position toward any number of moral issues confronting society today as any religious person toward the teachings and tenets of their particular system. Yet, unlike ourselves, these have not been called to be salt and light in this world; may God help the child of God to be consistent in his or her life. May we be enabled daily to hold up before ourselves the mirror of the Word of God, and after pleading, ‘Search me, O God, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me,’ to be able to pray, ‘who can discern his errors? Clear thou me from hidden faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be clear from great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah!      

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 16:12 ‘But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230212_matthew16-12_2 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230212_matthew16-12_2#comments Sat, 11 Feb 2023 10:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230212_matthew16-12_2 This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 16:12

‘But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’

 

    In the text that we are looking at this week, we are told that Jesus made it clear to the disciples that when He spoke of the leaven of the Pharisees that He was telling them to beware of the teaching of those men. How are we to reconcile that statement with another in the twenty-third chapter of this same gospel account, and verses one and two, where Jesus tells His audience, an audience that included His disciples, saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say and do not.’ It seems on the surface that Jesus has contradicted Himself. This calls for a closer look. In the passage from chapter sixteen, the word rendered teaching could be, and often is, rendered doctrine. We would venture to say, with others, that while the connection between doctrine and teaching is apparent, they can not necessarily be and with certainty be declared to be the same thing. One’s doctrine should inform one’s teaching, and one’s teaching should be in agreement with one’s doctrine, yet this is not always the case among mankind for these things are, to a greater or lesser degree, affected by the remains of sin. When our Lord told His disciples, and ourselves, through this Scripture, to beware of the teaching of those Pharisees and Sadducees, He was most likely, making and allusion to the hypocrisy of their behavioral teaching. This would go far to explain how they could sit on Moses’ seat teaching and expounding the law which that patriarch had received directly from God, and yet applying it in such a way that their behavior was frequently inconsistent with what the law truly intended. For this reason, Christ in that twenty-third chapter already alluded to, solemnly imprecates their behavior in a series of denunciations beginning with the startling, ‘But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!’ The title hypocrites was deserved by these men. Christ defends His accusation with examples of their hypocritical attitudes and patterns to which He had reference. These several charges could be summed up in the claim which He had already made when He said that, ‘They say and do not.’ 

    As Christ elsewhere spoke of those upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and of those whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, when He asked, ‘Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans?’ So we might ask ourselves if these Pharisees are worse sinners than all others? Is it not the case of mankind that we are all naturally hypocrites? David has said that we all come forth from our mother’s womb speaking lies. Is this not almost the same thing as saying that we all come forth to the birth as hypocrites? How many times have we heard a parent tell a child, or an employer an employee, or a teacher a student, in effect, ‘Do as I say, don’t do as I do?’ have we never spoken some form of these words ourselves in our lifetime? Surely it is much easier to say than to do what is right and just. While we are naturally more comfortable sitting in the place of a judge than to be standing in the dock, as it were, it would be well for us to have James’ mirror before us that we may judge ourselves, and not to walk away forgetful of what manner of man we have just seen. May God help us by His grace to expunge every and all vestiges of Pharisaism that we may witness in that very mirror.

    Hypocrisy is not the sole property of the Pharisees. It evidently tainted the Sadducees as well. Even though the Sadducees greater concern was for the political well-being and continuation of their nation, they were not free of those Pharisaical appendages which so tenaciously cling to mankind.  Even so, this form of legalism and hypocrisy is not the sole property of those we think of as ‘Reformed.’ It is conspicuous in the attitudes and demeanor of, not only the ostensibly reformed, but in the lives of Baptists and Presbyterians alike; in the lives of Fundamentalist and Liberals equally; in the mannerisms and carriage of both Conservatives and Charismatics with like force; yea, with the Sabbatarian and the anti-sabbatarian with a similar vehemence. Must one necessarily be a member of any of the afore-mentioned groups in order to be a hypocrite? Indeed, is it not only likely, but apparent, that in the realm of politics, few are those who do not say one thing and do another? 

    A definition of Pharisaism offered by a renowned dictionary states that it is a, ‘hypocritical observance of the letter of religious or moral law without regard for the spirit of [of that law]; sanctimoniousness.’ In other words, one may be just as much a Pharisee or hypocrite with respect to their position toward any number of moral issues confronting society today as any religious person toward the teachings and tenets of their particular system. Yet, unlike ourselves, these have not been called to be salt and light in this world; may God help the child of God to be consistent in his or her life. May we be enabled daily to hold up before ourselves the mirror of the Word of God, and after pleading, ‘Search me, O God, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me,’ to be able to pray, ‘who can discern his errors? Clear thou me from hidden faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be clear from great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah!      

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 16:12

‘But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’

 

    In the text that we are looking at this week, we are told that Jesus made it clear to the disciples that when He spoke of the leaven of the Pharisees that He was telling them to beware of the teaching of those men. How are we to reconcile that statement with another in the twenty-third chapter of this same gospel account, and verses one and two, where Jesus tells His audience, an audience that included His disciples, saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say and do not.’ It seems on the surface that Jesus has contradicted Himself. This calls for a closer look. In the passage from chapter sixteen, the word rendered teaching could be, and often is, rendered doctrine. We would venture to say, with others, that while the connection between doctrine and teaching is apparent, they can not necessarily be and with certainty be declared to be the same thing. One’s doctrine should inform one’s teaching, and one’s teaching should be in agreement with one’s doctrine, yet this is not always the case among mankind for these things are, to a greater or lesser degree, affected by the remains of sin. When our Lord told His disciples, and ourselves, through this Scripture, to beware of the teaching of those Pharisees and Sadducees, He was most likely, making and allusion to the hypocrisy of their behavioral teaching. This would go far to explain how they could sit on Moses’ seat teaching and expounding the law which that patriarch had received directly from God, and yet applying it in such a way that their behavior was frequently inconsistent with what the law truly intended. For this reason, Christ in that twenty-third chapter already alluded to, solemnly imprecates their behavior in a series of denunciations beginning with the startling, ‘But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!’ The title hypocrites was deserved by these men. Christ defends His accusation with examples of their hypocritical attitudes and patterns to which He had reference. These several charges could be summed up in the claim which He had already made when He said that, ‘They say and do not.’ 

    As Christ elsewhere spoke of those upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and of those whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, when He asked, ‘Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans?’ So we might ask ourselves if these Pharisees are worse sinners than all others? Is it not the case of mankind that we are all naturally hypocrites? David has said that we all come forth from our mother’s womb speaking lies. Is this not almost the same thing as saying that we all come forth to the birth as hypocrites? How many times have we heard a parent tell a child, or an employer an employee, or a teacher a student, in effect, ‘Do as I say, don’t do as I do?’ have we never spoken some form of these words ourselves in our lifetime? Surely it is much easier to say than to do what is right and just. While we are naturally more comfortable sitting in the place of a judge than to be standing in the dock, as it were, it would be well for us to have James’ mirror before us that we may judge ourselves, and not to walk away forgetful of what manner of man we have just seen. May God help us by His grace to expunge every and all vestiges of Pharisaism that we may witness in that very mirror.

    Hypocrisy is not the sole property of the Pharisees. It evidently tainted the Sadducees as well. Even though the Sadducees greater concern was for the political well-being and continuation of their nation, they were not free of those Pharisaical appendages which so tenaciously cling to mankind.  Even so, this form of legalism and hypocrisy is not the sole property of those we think of as ‘Reformed.’ It is conspicuous in the attitudes and demeanor of, not only the ostensibly reformed, but in the lives of Baptists and Presbyterians alike; in the lives of Fundamentalist and Liberals equally; in the mannerisms and carriage of both Conservatives and Charismatics with like force; yea, with the Sabbatarian and the anti-sabbatarian with a similar vehemence. Must one necessarily be a member of any of the afore-mentioned groups in order to be a hypocrite? Indeed, is it not only likely, but apparent, that in the realm of politics, few are those who do not say one thing and do another? 

    A definition of Pharisaism offered by a renowned dictionary states that it is a, ‘hypocritical observance of the letter of religious or moral law without regard for the spirit of [of that law]; sanctimoniousness.’ In other words, one may be just as much a Pharisee or hypocrite with respect to their position toward any number of moral issues confronting society today as any religious person toward the teachings and tenets of their particular system. Yet, unlike ourselves, these have not been called to be salt and light in this world; may God help the child of God to be consistent in his or her life. May we be enabled daily to hold up before ourselves the mirror of the Word of God, and after pleading, ‘Search me, O God, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me,’ to be able to pray, ‘who can discern his errors? Clear thou me from hidden faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; then shall I be upright, and I shall be clear from great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah!      

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Exodus 14:13 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230205_exodus14-13 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230205_exodus14-13#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2023 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/20230205_exodus14-13 This Week’s Focus Passage: Exodus 14:13

‘The Egyptians whom ye have seen today, Ye shall see them again no more for ever.’

    Even as the miraculous safe passage was granted to the people of Jehovah, at the Red Sea; we should recall the different events that concerned that dilemma that confronted Moses and those he was leading away from Egypt. Most certainly, it began, as we are informed from the conversation that Jehovah had with Moses; that which is recorded for us in the book of Exodus, a title which actually foretells a very great deal of the contents of the book beforehand. 

“The biblical book of Exodus describes the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, so it’s no surprise that the word has come to refer more generally to any mass departure. The word itself was adopted into English (via Latin) from Greek Exodos, which literally means “the road out.” The Greek word was formed by combining the prefix ex- (meaning, “out of”) and hodos, “road” or “way.”—Merriam-Webster.  

    Without going into just how the Israelites became a subjugated people in the land of Egypt; this concerns the history of Abraham’s children, Isaac and Jacob, and particularly, Joseph, who was sold, by his brethren, to a caravan which was destined for the land of Egypt. Joseph became, in God’s providential design, a savior to the land of Egypt, preventing great starvation and loss of life. The Pharaoh of Egypt, in the course of the management by Joseph over food supply (grain), made this relatively young Hebrew, second only to Pharaoh himself in Egypt. Later on, after the death of Joseph, another Pharaoh arose, who we are told, did not know Joseph, which ended the good relationship (relatively good) between the Hebrews and the Egyptians. This also resulted in the Hebrews being subjected, yea, being made bondservants.

    This, of course, did not take place without the oversight of Jehovah. In point of fact, He not only brought it to be, but He had told of this to His servant and friend, Abraham, years before it ever came into reality. We read in Genesis 15:12-14, this word from Jehovah unto the faithful Abraham:

        And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 

    This ‘coming out with great substance,’ promised by Jehovah, was not going to happen without His sovereign activity. And this activity, began, we might say, as recorded in that third chapter of this book of the Exodus. Without going into the history of the birth of Moses at a time after Pharaoh had ordered all male Hebrew infants to be slain by the midwives bringing them to the birth. Moses was spared, firstly, by the midwives fear of God that kept them from slaying Moses, but how was this newborn to be preserved now from ‘search and seizure? This preservation was effected by his sister placing him in an “ark of bulrushes” and his being ‘miraculously’ found by the daughter of Pharaoh, who took her to herself to raise him to manhood. But when he was grown he went to see his people, the slaves of Egypt, and when he, looking about, saw an Egyptian smiting ‘one of his brethren,’ he slew the Egyptian, hiding the body. But it became known, and he fled Egypt, to Midian, where he met a priest of Midian, Jethro, who had seven daughters. Moses was welcomed in, and became a keeper of Jethro’s flocks. It was while engaged in this labor, that he witnessed a burning bush, and when he turned aside to view the bush, Jehovah spoke to him from the bush. Here, He called Moses to become the one He would use to bring His people out of bondage, for they had cried unto Him, and He had heard their cries, so that he intended to engage Moses to go to Egypt, and ‘let His people go’ out of that bondage that they had been under for so long..     

    Jehovah brought everything together for this grand demonstration of His pre-eminence in all things; His omniscience; His omnipotence; His omnipresence. He had told Abraham that it would be a period of four hundred years, and so it was. They began to cry unto Him, and He heard their cries. When Moses arrived, he confronted Pharaoh with the demand from Jehovah to, “Let my people go.” We know that Pharaoh refused to do so. In order to convince this king of Egypt that the God of the Hebrews was the only true God, He sent those several plagues, and finally Pharaoh let the people go to worship their God. But, it was not very long before he changed his mind, and he gathered his armies to pursue them. This was also “of God,” of which we read in the ninth verse of this fourteenth chapter of the book of Exodus:

And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them inAnd I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah.

The Lord then opened up the Red Sea, allowing His people to pass through on dry land, but according to His declaration when He told Moses those words, The Egyptians whom ye have seen today, Ye shall see them again no more for ever. When the host of Pharaoh attempted to follow the children of Israel, He brought the Red Sea down upon them, completely destroying them so that they indeed saw them again no more for ever. This exhibition of God’s saving power is manifested here in this event. But in the course of saving His people, He was typifying the covering of their sins with the blood of His Son, so that they are covered for ever; We therefore have peace with God through the blood of His Son.

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Exodus 14:13

‘The Egyptians whom ye have seen today, Ye shall see them again no more for ever.’

    Even as the miraculous safe passage was granted to the people of Jehovah, at the Red Sea; we should recall the different events that concerned that dilemma that confronted Moses and those he was leading away from Egypt. Most certainly, it began, as we are informed from the conversation that Jehovah had with Moses; that which is recorded for us in the book of Exodus, a title which actually foretells a very great deal of the contents of the book beforehand. 

“The biblical book of Exodus describes the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, so it’s no surprise that the word has come to refer more generally to any mass departure. The word itself was adopted into English (via Latin) from Greek Exodos, which literally means “the road out.” The Greek word was formed by combining the prefix ex- (meaning, “out of”) and hodos, “road” or “way.”—Merriam-Webster.  

    Without going into just how the Israelites became a subjugated people in the land of Egypt; this concerns the history of Abraham’s children, Isaac and Jacob, and particularly, Joseph, who was sold, by his brethren, to a caravan which was destined for the land of Egypt. Joseph became, in God’s providential design, a savior to the land of Egypt, preventing great starvation and loss of life. The Pharaoh of Egypt, in the course of the management by Joseph over food supply (grain), made this relatively young Hebrew, second only to Pharaoh himself in Egypt. Later on, after the death of Joseph, another Pharaoh arose, who we are told, did not know Joseph, which ended the good relationship (relatively good) between the Hebrews and the Egyptians. This also resulted in the Hebrews being subjected, yea, being made bondservants.

    This, of course, did not take place without the oversight of Jehovah. In point of fact, He not only brought it to be, but He had told of this to His servant and friend, Abraham, years before it ever came into reality. We read in Genesis 15:12-14, this word from Jehovah unto the faithful Abraham:

        And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 

    This ‘coming out with great substance,’ promised by Jehovah, was not going to happen without His sovereign activity. And this activity, began, we might say, as recorded in that third chapter of this book of the Exodus. Without going into the history of the birth of Moses at a time after Pharaoh had ordered all male Hebrew infants to be slain by the midwives bringing them to the birth. Moses was spared, firstly, by the midwives fear of God that kept them from slaying Moses, but how was this newborn to be preserved now from ‘search and seizure? This preservation was effected by his sister placing him in an “ark of bulrushes” and his being ‘miraculously’ found by the daughter of Pharaoh, who took her to herself to raise him to manhood. But when he was grown he went to see his people, the slaves of Egypt, and when he, looking about, saw an Egyptian smiting ‘one of his brethren,’ he slew the Egyptian, hiding the body. But it became known, and he fled Egypt, to Midian, where he met a priest of Midian, Jethro, who had seven daughters. Moses was welcomed in, and became a keeper of Jethro’s flocks. It was while engaged in this labor, that he witnessed a burning bush, and when he turned aside to view the bush, Jehovah spoke to him from the bush. Here, He called Moses to become the one He would use to bring His people out of bondage, for they had cried unto Him, and He had heard their cries, so that he intended to engage Moses to go to Egypt, and ‘let His people go’ out of that bondage that they had been under for so long..     

    Jehovah brought everything together for this grand demonstration of His pre-eminence in all things; His omniscience; His omnipotence; His omnipresence. He had told Abraham that it would be a period of four hundred years, and so it was. They began to cry unto Him, and He heard their cries. When Moses arrived, he confronted Pharaoh with the demand from Jehovah to, “Let my people go.” We know that Pharaoh refused to do so. In order to convince this king of Egypt that the God of the Hebrews was the only true God, He sent those several plagues, and finally Pharaoh let the people go to worship their God. But, it was not very long before he changed his mind, and he gathered his armies to pursue them. This was also “of God,” of which we read in the ninth verse of this fourteenth chapter of the book of Exodus:

And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them inAnd I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah.

The Lord then opened up the Red Sea, allowing His people to pass through on dry land, but according to His declaration when He told Moses those words, The Egyptians whom ye have seen today, Ye shall see them again no more for ever. When the host of Pharaoh attempted to follow the children of Israel, He brought the Red Sea down upon them, completely destroying them so that they indeed saw them again no more for ever. This exhibition of God’s saving power is manifested here in this event. But in the course of saving His people, He was typifying the covering of their sins with the blood of His Son, so that they are covered for ever; We therefore have peace with God through the blood of His Son.

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

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This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 27 ‘Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?’ https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023JAN29_psalm27 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023JAN29_psalm27#comments Sat, 28 Jan 2023 10:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023JAN29_psalm27 This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 27

‘Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?’

    Psalm twenty-seven is yet another Psalm of David. In spite of the reality that Psalm twenty-three is, arguably, and that, without any doubt, the most well-known psalm in the beautiful catalogue of songs by David, as well as others employed by God’s gracious activity, to pen the book of one hundred and fifty psalms, the majority of which were penned by David, the shepherd-king; the wonderful blessed type of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only True King and Shepherd of His flock. Yes, we say that, in spite of the beauty and popularity of the twenty-third psalm, this psalm twenty-seven; we are emboldened to assert, is one of the most beautiful of all. There are exceedingly wonderful truths set down among the fourteen verses which make up this particular psalm; this psalm which begins with the affirmation, that:

Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 

Indeed, David bolsters his grand assertion with glorious argumentations, such as when he says in the next verse; that,

When evil-doers came upon me to eat up my flesh, Even mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. 

David employs here just what many of us ought, probably, to do more often than we ever have; that is, to recall the many past deliverances; the many occasions that our God has surely heard our cries, and come to our aid, in His marvelous, absolutely unmatched faithfulness to us, through His absolute faithfulness to us. We may often recall His happy promises to us; telling us that He would never leave us, nor ever forsake us. We are so terribly prone to allow ourselves to react to hardships, or oppositions, or dangers, with anxiety, or fear, or trembling, rather than embracing our God given faith in all matters. This is what the “three Hebrew children” did, as recorded for us in the book of the prophet, Daniel, in the third chapter. We are informed that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had made (more likely, had his minions make it), upon which, he commanded that all and every person should make obeisance to this image of gold; so that we read in the fourth verse of chapter three:

Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar hath set up; and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 

Now these three Hebrew children refused to do so, and when this was reported to the king, he flew into rage, and demanded that the three be brought to him; and he spoke:

Is it of purpose, O Shadrach, Meshach, and A-bed-nego, that ye serve not my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 

Shadrach, Meshach, and A-bed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand. O king.

These three may have been supporting their faith in Jehovah through remembrance of past deliveries granted to them. They may have been bringing to their memories, the recent answer to the prayers of Daniel himself, when these ‘children of Israel’ were in danger of Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath, along with all his ‘wise men’ because none could tell him the dream that he had dreamed, which himself had forgotten. On hearing of this from Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard who were come to slay all the magicians because they could not tell the king his dream. Daniel asked of this Arioch; could he have more time. 

Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: [Shadrach, Meshach, and A-bed-nego, renamed by his captors] that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night.

In other words, they prayed for deliverance from this impending execution. Daniel prayed unto their God, and was heard. Surely, this event was fresh in the minds of each of these ‘children of Israel,’ for their individual encouragements. We would even expect that, as they had prayed for deliverance, at the same time they prayed for an increase of faith. Every child of God should be asking daily for increased faith.

He may bring us to remember other times when great deliverances were given to us.

    This seems to be, clearly, just what David is doing here in Psalm 27, as he recalls what became of those evil-doers that came upon him to eat his flesh. Actually, they stumbled and fell. He is, therefore emboldened to assert, in the very next verse:

Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, Even then will I be confident.

Above, and beyond, what we might call, his temporal confidence, is what we shall call, to be his eternal confidence, through faith as always; faith in Jehovah of hosts, in the following glorious and beautiful words ever penned by our Psalm-singer:

One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after: That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire in his temple. 

Through the grace of our God, and the merit of our Savior, the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world, may we not begin that blessed life now in Him?

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Psalm 27

‘Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?’

    Psalm twenty-seven is yet another Psalm of David. In spite of the reality that Psalm twenty-three is, arguably, and that, without any doubt, the most well-known psalm in the beautiful catalogue of songs by David, as well as others employed by God’s gracious activity, to pen the book of one hundred and fifty psalms, the majority of which were penned by David, the shepherd-king; the wonderful blessed type of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only True King and Shepherd of His flock. Yes, we say that, in spite of the beauty and popularity of the twenty-third psalm, this psalm twenty-seven; we are emboldened to assert, is one of the most beautiful of all. There are exceedingly wonderful truths set down among the fourteen verses which make up this particular psalm; this psalm which begins with the affirmation, that:

Jehovah is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 

Indeed, David bolsters his grand assertion with glorious argumentations, such as when he says in the next verse; that,

When evil-doers came upon me to eat up my flesh, Even mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. 

David employs here just what many of us ought, probably, to do more often than we ever have; that is, to recall the many past deliverances; the many occasions that our God has surely heard our cries, and come to our aid, in His marvelous, absolutely unmatched faithfulness to us, through His absolute faithfulness to us. We may often recall His happy promises to us; telling us that He would never leave us, nor ever forsake us. We are so terribly prone to allow ourselves to react to hardships, or oppositions, or dangers, with anxiety, or fear, or trembling, rather than embracing our God given faith in all matters. This is what the “three Hebrew children” did, as recorded for us in the book of the prophet, Daniel, in the third chapter. We are informed that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had made (more likely, had his minions make it), upon which, he commanded that all and every person should make obeisance to this image of gold; so that we read in the fourth verse of chapter three:

Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar hath set up; and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 

Now these three Hebrew children refused to do so, and when this was reported to the king, he flew into rage, and demanded that the three be brought to him; and he spoke:

Is it of purpose, O Shadrach, Meshach, and A-bed-nego, that ye serve not my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 

Shadrach, Meshach, and A-bed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand. O king.

These three may have been supporting their faith in Jehovah through remembrance of past deliveries granted to them. They may have been bringing to their memories, the recent answer to the prayers of Daniel himself, when these ‘children of Israel’ were in danger of Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath, along with all his ‘wise men’ because none could tell him the dream that he had dreamed, which himself had forgotten. On hearing of this from Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard who were come to slay all the magicians because they could not tell the king his dream. Daniel asked of this Arioch; could he have more time. 

Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: [Shadrach, Meshach, and A-bed-nego, renamed by his captors] that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a vision of the night.

In other words, they prayed for deliverance from this impending execution. Daniel prayed unto their God, and was heard. Surely, this event was fresh in the minds of each of these ‘children of Israel,’ for their individual encouragements. We would even expect that, as they had prayed for deliverance, at the same time they prayed for an increase of faith. Every child of God should be asking daily for increased faith.

He may bring us to remember other times when great deliverances were given to us.

    This seems to be, clearly, just what David is doing here in Psalm 27, as he recalls what became of those evil-doers that came upon him to eat his flesh. Actually, they stumbled and fell. He is, therefore emboldened to assert, in the very next verse:

Though a host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, Even then will I be confident.

Above, and beyond, what we might call, his temporal confidence, is what we shall call, to be his eternal confidence, through faith as always; faith in Jehovah of hosts, in the following glorious and beautiful words ever penned by our Psalm-singer:

One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after: That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire in his temple. 

Through the grace of our God, and the merit of our Savior, the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world, may we not begin that blessed life now in Him?

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 10:3 ‘Thomas, Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, Th https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023JAN22_matthew10-3 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023JAN22_matthew10-3#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2023 11:00:00 -0500 https://www.fellowship-greenville.org/davids-blogs/post/2023JAN22_matthew10-3 This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 10:3

‘Thomas, Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus.’

    We may read, in “The Gospel According to Matthew,” the calling, by Jesus, of the twelve disciples who were to becomes the twelve apostles, found elsewhere on numerous occasions in the Newer Testament, simply referred to as the Twelve. These twelve are enumerated for us, in the gospels and the book of Acts, no less than four times; once in each of the gospel accounts, referred to in the post-resurrection account provided in the book of Acts, and, at 1:12-14:

Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is nigh unto Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey off. And when they were come in, they went up into the upper chamber, where they were abiding; both Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all with one accord, continued steadfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 

The Matthean account, under our notice this week, as our focus passage, is somewhat different from the Marcan account, as well as from the Lucan account, and that in Acts cited above. In Matthew 10:2-4, we read as follows”

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

The reason for the omission of Judas Iscariot from the list given in the book of Acts is, or course, because Judas Iscariot, we are informed just a little further on it that same book of Acts, in the words of the apostle Peter, saying:

Brethren, it was needful that the scripture should be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spake before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered among us, and received his portion in this ministry. (Now this man obtained a field with the reward of his iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch that in their language that field was called Akel-dama, that is, the field of blood.) For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be made desolate, And let no man dwell therein: and, His office let another take. 

Luke has then recorded the manner of their determining upon another to take the place of Judas Iscariot. They then put forward two, namely, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. After having prayed, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot. So it was.

    But our curiosity, this week, is with one of those men named in the list given us by Matthew, which includes the name of one Thaddaeus. There are many, and novel, suggestions by commentators as to just who this person was. Just who was Thaddaeus? This name is to be found only in the accounts given us by both Matthew and Mark, and the only two occasions in the entirety of the Bible where it is found; the two synoptic gospels that are often agreeable in their content. But, still, who was this man named Thaddaeus? 

    Searching for an answer, we consulted, with much hope, “The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. We were given the following information from that source; telling us that, Thaddaeus was:

    “One of the twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18). In Matthew 10:3 KJV the reading is ‘Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus.’ Omitted from the lists of Luke 6:14-16 and Acts 1:13, the name of Judas, son (RSV) or ‘brother’ (KJV)  of James is inserted instead. Luke probably gives the true name. Thaddaeus (Aramaic; ‘breast-nipple’?) and Lebbaeus (Aramaic ‘heart’) may be descriptive designations of Judas introduced in the gospels to avoid confusion with the traitor and because of the odium attached to his name. Judas (not Iscariot) of John 14:22 is possibly this disciple.” So much for any very great help from Zondervan’s Encyclopedia.

    Perhaps, there is more insight to be found in the “International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,” published in 1947, by Eerdmans, with James Orr being the General Editor. They do provide some greater amount of  information at any rate. They have offered from, “The Genealogies of the Twelve Apostles,” the following notice, that, in fact, [their facts, we suppose] Thaddaeus was of the house of Joseph; he was of the tribe of Judah. There is abundant testimony in apocryphal literature of the missionary activity of a certain Thaddaeus in Syria, but doubt exists as to whether this was the apostle.” 

    “Jerome however, identifies this same Thaddaeus with Lebbaeus and ‘Judas….of James’ of Luke 6:16. Hennecke surmises that in the original form of the Agbar legend Thomas was the central figure, but that through the influence of the later ‘Acts of Thomas’ which required room to be made for Thomas’ activity in India, a later Syr recension was made in which Thomas became merely the sender of Thaddaeus to Edessa.” “The burial place of Thaddaeus is variously placed at Beirut and in Egypt.” How many places is he buried? Very interesting, at least. Our comment upon these dictionaries:

    My son, be admonished; Of making many books there is no end.

                                  --Ecclesiastes 12:12

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>
This Week’s Focus Passage: Matthew 10:3

‘Thomas, Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus.’

    We may read, in “The Gospel According to Matthew,” the calling, by Jesus, of the twelve disciples who were to becomes the twelve apostles, found elsewhere on numerous occasions in the Newer Testament, simply referred to as the Twelve. These twelve are enumerated for us, in the gospels and the book of Acts, no less than four times; once in each of the gospel accounts, referred to in the post-resurrection account provided in the book of Acts, and, at 1:12-14:

Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is nigh unto Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey off. And when they were come in, they went up into the upper chamber, where they were abiding; both Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all with one accord, continued steadfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 

The Matthean account, under our notice this week, as our focus passage, is somewhat different from the Marcan account, as well as from the Lucan account, and that in Acts cited above. In Matthew 10:2-4, we read as follows”

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

The reason for the omission of Judas Iscariot from the list given in the book of Acts is, or course, because Judas Iscariot, we are informed just a little further on it that same book of Acts, in the words of the apostle Peter, saying:

Brethren, it was needful that the scripture should be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spake before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered among us, and received his portion in this ministry. (Now this man obtained a field with the reward of his iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch that in their language that field was called Akel-dama, that is, the field of blood.) For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be made desolate, And let no man dwell therein: and, His office let another take. 

Luke has then recorded the manner of their determining upon another to take the place of Judas Iscariot. They then put forward two, namely, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. After having prayed, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot. So it was.

    But our curiosity, this week, is with one of those men named in the list given us by Matthew, which includes the name of one Thaddaeus. There are many, and novel, suggestions by commentators as to just who this person was. Just who was Thaddaeus? This name is to be found only in the accounts given us by both Matthew and Mark, and the only two occasions in the entirety of the Bible where it is found; the two synoptic gospels that are often agreeable in their content. But, still, who was this man named Thaddaeus? 

    Searching for an answer, we consulted, with much hope, “The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. We were given the following information from that source; telling us that, Thaddaeus was:

    “One of the twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18). In Matthew 10:3 KJV the reading is ‘Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus.’ Omitted from the lists of Luke 6:14-16 and Acts 1:13, the name of Judas, son (RSV) or ‘brother’ (KJV)  of James is inserted instead. Luke probably gives the true name. Thaddaeus (Aramaic; ‘breast-nipple’?) and Lebbaeus (Aramaic ‘heart’) may be descriptive designations of Judas introduced in the gospels to avoid confusion with the traitor and because of the odium attached to his name. Judas (not Iscariot) of John 14:22 is possibly this disciple.” So much for any very great help from Zondervan’s Encyclopedia.

    Perhaps, there is more insight to be found in the “International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,” published in 1947, by Eerdmans, with James Orr being the General Editor. They do provide some greater amount of  information at any rate. They have offered from, “The Genealogies of the Twelve Apostles,” the following notice, that, in fact, [their facts, we suppose] Thaddaeus was of the house of Joseph; he was of the tribe of Judah. There is abundant testimony in apocryphal literature of the missionary activity of a certain Thaddaeus in Syria, but doubt exists as to whether this was the apostle.” 

    “Jerome however, identifies this same Thaddaeus with Lebbaeus and ‘Judas….of James’ of Luke 6:16. Hennecke surmises that in the original form of the Agbar legend Thomas was the central figure, but that through the influence of the later ‘Acts of Thomas’ which required room to be made for Thomas’ activity in India, a later Syr recension was made in which Thomas became merely the sender of Thaddaeus to Edessa.” “The burial place of Thaddaeus is variously placed at Beirut and in Egypt.” How many places is he buried? Very interesting, at least. Our comment upon these dictionaries:

    My son, be admonished; Of making many books there is no end.

                                  --Ecclesiastes 12:12

 

David Farmer, elder

Fellowship Bible Church

]]>