Podcasts about ot scriptures

With the current events in Israel, a lot of evangelicals are talking about end-times prophecy, Zionism and the Jewish people's status as God's chosen people. This all pertains to dispensationalist theology, and what type of covenantal theology one subscribes to. In this episode, I seek to faithfully start exploring this topic. In the OT Scriptures we see in Jeremiah and Ezekial, the foreshadowing of a time where God will make a new covenant with His people. This is fulfilled by Jesus, but it raises the following questions: what were the terms and conditions of God's original covenant with the Jewish people? Did God break His covenant with them, or they with Him? What is different about the New Covenant, and who are God's chosen people today? While not exhaustive, this episode seeks to answer these questions by looking at what Scripture says - which points to, in my opinion, God having from the beginning in Genesis a plan of redemption in mind. We can see from reading the entirety of Scripture that Jesus Christ has declared His Kingdom, and in doing so He has fulfilled the old covenant and invited us to join in union with Him - and this is the New Covenant. The only identity that matters now is the identity we have and share in Christ. Listen in to the episode and join me as we begin to dive into Scripture and what it has to teach us regarding God's covenant with His people. Additional Resources: Ep. 14 regarding the Mosaic covenant and the Conquest of Canaan: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/does-the-conquest-of-canaan-conflict-with-anarchism/ Last year's Christmas episode, speaking on God's Kingdom: https://libertarianchristians.com/episode/what-christmas-teaches-us-about-peace-and-gods-kingdom/ The Biblical Anarchy Podcast (https://BiblicalAnarchyPodcast.com) is part of the Christians For Liberty Network (https://christiansforliberty.net), a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute (https://libertarianchristians.com). Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com   

How did the Old Testament canon develop? What did Jesus have to say about the Old Testament Scriptures? In this episode, David and Nathan discuss the development of the Old Testament canon, Jesus' view on the OT Scriptures, and some of the books that the Jews ultimately rejected from their Scriptures like the book of Enoch or the book of Jubilee. They also discuss how some books, like Esther or Song of Solomon, were disputed at one point but eventually gained full acceptance into the canon.

There are some people in history whose lives stand out as being the right person with the right abilities at the right time.--Moses, David, Esther, Daniel, and several others in the OT Scriptures fit that description. Of course, our Lord Jesus was the most pivotal person ever to walk the earth. The one man He chose to have the greatest influence in advance of His Gospel in this age was the Apostle Paul.

- Why #bekind does not represent Jesus.  - Jesus directly challenges the Pharisee's definition of the Messiah.  - Jenn challenges the listener to not be a passive Christian.  - Jesus declares Himself God through the OT Scriptures. Want to support this podcast? Please rate, review, and share! Talk with Jenn - jenn@p40ministries.com  

Nicodemus - in spite of the fact that he was a Pharisee, leader of the Jews (Sanhedrin: the highest governing body of the Jews), a person of wealth, influence, and teacher of the Law, he could not “see the Kingdom of God” without being born again. For even a man of such prestige and stature, still needed salvation from above. He should have been familiar with Ezekiel and other OT Scriptures, revealing the spiritual truth of this new birth. As a Pharisee he probably had too much confidence in his own righteousness and had not welcomed the humble thought of repentance, the need to have his life cleansed and his heart transformed.   "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" - JESUS

The glory of God is displayed in that even many of the smallest details of Christ's suffering and death were in fulfillment of the OT Scriptures, showing us that it was all according to God's perfect design to accomplish our salvation.

The glory of God is displayed in that even many of the smallest details of Christ's suffering and death were in fulfillment of the OT Scriptures, showing us that it was all according to God's perfect design to accomplish our salvation.

Easter Sunday. Along with, Unmet Expectations. Today, Pastor Michael is studying the resurrection and unmet expectations.  He is in the book of Luke and Cleopas and friends are walking towards Emmaus and thinking something was supposed to happen and it didn't.  The something was Jesus and being crucified and dying; folks had expected him to be the Messiah and now he was dead!  Talk about unmet expectations! Another person comes along and starts walking with them and he asked them what they were talking about and why they were so sad.  Cleopas felt that this stranger knew very little about what all had been going on, but he gave the story of Jesus, hoping he was the Messiah and now he had been crucified and had been dead for 3 days.  Now, further evidence today shows that, the tomb was empty.  But they were going home, nothing had been confirmed, they didn't really understand what all had been happening and yet this stranger felt this was exactly as it was supposed to be! The Messiah was always destined to lay down his life, according to this stranger, who went over all the background of the prophesy of what happened to Jesus and how it was predicted long, long ago.  This person gave them many prophesies about how he would suffer and die.  And that it was not really, unexpected! These folks walking along the road, asked the stranger to come to their house and have food with them.  When they asked him to bless the food, they recognized him but, he soon disappeared! They ran back to Jerusalem and let everyone know that they had seen Jesus!  The Risen Lord! (CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) 24:13–27. The first resurrection appearance recorded in Luke's Gospel is found here in 24:13–35. Two people are traveling to Emmaus from Jerusalem (24:13). As they travel, they are discussing the events of the previous day, and Jesus catches up with them as they journey (24:14–15). They cannot recognize Jesus, not because he looks different, but because in God's sovereignty they are prevented from identifying him (24:16). When Jesus inquires about the topic of their conversation, Cleopas (cf. Jn 19:25, which may refer to the same person; the identity of Cleopas's partner is unknown, but perhaps it was his wife) responds by identifying Jesus as a prophet through whom God has worked in a mighty way (24:17–19). Nevertheless, he has been executed by the religious leaders, indicating that he could not have been the Messiah (24:20–21). To make matters worse, some women are saying that this Jesus is alive (24:22–23). They are right that the tomb is empty, but such a report could not be believed because no one has seen Jesus (24:24).   The “unknown” Jesus counters the belief of these two by pointing to the Scriptures. The OT Scriptures clearly teach that the Messiah must suffer before he enters into glory (24:25–27). For the texts that Jesus used, one should probably refer to the speeches in the book of Acts (Ac 2:14–39; 3:12–26; 13:16–41). Verses can be found today in Luke 24: 13-49. Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Celebrating the birth of Christ, Is he The Messiah : John Wells - December 19, 2021 Luke 1: 30-33 /2:11 “ You shall call his name Jesus . Her will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the LORD God will give unto him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Is He the Messiah ? Did He fulfill Old Testament scripture? Is He alive ? Is He worthy of your trust ? I Timothy 1:15 “ This is a faithful saying, (is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance) that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost”. The coming of Jesus Christ into the world puts meaning into history. It's true, it's historical, it's reliable, it's personal Did he fulfill the OT Scriptures ? Isaiah 53:3 “ he is despised and rejected” hated not esteemed … they plotted his death ” Matt 2:16 King Herod killed all male children in Bethlehem under 2 yrs Luke 2:7 …when her time came to give birth …No room for him in the Inn John 1:11 “ He came unto his own people (Israel) … would not receive him” - John 15: 25 “ They hated me without a cause” …fulfilment of the scriptures Matt 21:42 Jesus said “ The Stone which the builders rejected …Fulfilling OT Luke 4:18 “ In the synagogue in Nazareth “ Isa 61…” this scripture is fulfilled In Gethsemane “ put your sword away…I can called legions, but how then would scriptures be fulfilled ….ALL THIS WAS DONE THAT SCRIPTURES be fulfilled” OT Scriptures concerning his death and resurrection Betrayed of Judas - that scripture might be fulfilled, “ the one who eats bread with me…l” John 17;12 “ I've lost none but son of destruction that the scriptures might be fulfilled” John 19:24 “ soldiers gambled over his clothes … that scriptures might be fulfilled” Mark 15: 28 “ scripture was fulfilled … “ He was numbered with transgressors - 2 thieves” John 19:28 “ knowing all things ..accomplished Jesus said “ I THIRST” scripture fulfilled John 19;34 “ they pierced his side …, BLOOD flowed, …and John saw it …. No Bone was Broken …..THAT SCRIPTURE MIGHT BE FULFILLED In John 20:9 Peter, John and Mary are at the TOMB witnesses …JESUS HAS RISEN early first day week Jesus standing calls Mary by name … “ AS YET THEY KNEW NOT THE SCRIPTURE THAT HE MUST RISE FROM THE DEAD ! Matt 26:56 “ ALL THIS WAS DONE THAT THE SCRIPTURES of the Prophets might be FULFILLED concerning him. Luke 24:45 Jesus walks with them ..and beginning at Moses, and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the SCRIPTURES the things CONCERNING HIMSELF .He opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures. Is He worthy of your trust ? The overwhelming evidence is: He is the Messiah He fulfilled all the OT scriptures He is alive , He is the Almighty God He is worthy of your trust Revelation 1:18 “ I AM the LIVING ONE, I died, and behold I am ALIVE forevermore and I have the keys of death and Hell “

Note for parents After each episode of Household Hermeneutics, we are going to have a second, much smaller episode that will encapsulate the topic of the main episode and provide some resources and other useful things that you can use to teach your kids in a family worship setting. This week's main episode covered the Old Testament canon of Scripture, so today's family worship episode is going to be about how the Bible is perfect, true, and does not contain any errors. Then we will work on a new memory verse together, and we will also memorize a question and answer from a catechism. As we usually do here, we will end with a hymn. Family Worship - The Old Testament Canon of Scripture In our last episode, we answered the question: “Are there any errors in the Bible?” We determined that the answer is “no,” because the Bible is inspired by God, it is His own words, and since God cannot lie, then His word cannot contain any errors. The Bible is 100% true and trustworthy, because it was inspired by and given to us by a perfect and truthful God. Today, we're going to look at the books that make up the Bible, specifically in the Old Testament. We're going to ask ourselves “what is the Old Testament?” Chapter 1, Section 2 of the Westminster Confession of Faith says this on the Canon:“Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testament, which are these: Of the Old Testament Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth I Samuel II Samuel I Kings II Kings I Chronicles II Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes The Song of Songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.” Let's look at the Old Testament more closely. It is made up of 39 books, and they are broken into a few different groups. The first 5 books are the books of the Law. Moses wrote them and this sets up the framework of the nation of Israel. The next 12 books are the books of history, and they cover the time from Joshua up through the building of the second temple. They talk about the history of God's people and the story of how God is moving towards Jesus. We believe they were written primarily by Samuel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. The next 5 books are the Wisdom books. These are the books that offer us wisdom about God and the wise way to live our lives. We believe they were written by David, Solomon, and Moses. The next 5 books are called the Major Prophets, and they're called that because they are longer than the minor prophets. They give warnings to God's people and the surrounding nations of what God plans to do. The last several books of the Old Testament are called the Minor Prophets. Minor prophets have a shorter message of warning to deliver. They are under 10 chapters each and are usually to one specific people group. Now that we understand what the books of the Old Testament are, and what they are about, let's look at why we can be confident that they are the exact books God wanted us to have in our Old Testament, and there aren't any missing. Deuteronomy 4:2 - “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” Moses and then Joshua wrote several books in the OT, and then the rest were written mostly by the prophets. There are many places in Scripture that talk about the books being written and added to the canon. When Moses wrote the first five books, for example, they were placed into the Ark of the Covenant, right alongside the Ten Commandments. Another reason we can trust the OT list of books is that the earliest peoples and historians believed that they were the true Words of God. Also, Jesus and the authors of the NT books frequently quoted the OT Scriptures, over 295 times, and 100% of the time they are quoting from OT canon books, never from works in the apocrypha or other historical writings. So, when we consider the Old Testament, we can trust that all 39 books it contains are there because God wanted them to be. They are his inspired, inerrant, books, and we trust that they are the correct ones because the Bible says they are, history shows that the earliest people reading the books considered them to be canon, and because they are quoted as Holy Scripture so many times by the writers of the New Testament. Memory Verse Deuteronomy 4:2 - “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” Catechisms Keach's Catechism Q. 4. What is the Word of God? A. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice. Worship Song Holy, holy, holy! Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!God in three persons, blessed trinity! Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be. Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,though the eye of sinfulness thy glory may not see,only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,perfect in pow'r, in love, and purity. Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea.Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!God in three persons, blessed trinity! Credits: Words by Reginald Heber (1826), Music by John Bacchus Dykes (1861)Public Domain Resource Recommendations Holy, Holy Holy - https://youtu.be/sI6ZkTbUgW4Books of the Bible Memory Song - https://youtu.be/i7ZtWRSCH7E

Jesus criticizes the Jewish lawyers for taking away the key of knowledge.Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering. - Luke 11:52“You have taken away the key to knowledge,” i.e. the knowledge of God contained in the OT Scriptures which the scribes were supposed to unlock for God's people This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit myeveningdevotional.substack.com

Jesus responded to the accusations that He violated the Sabbath and that He made Himself equal with God. In the discourse that followed the healing of the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus challenged the Jews' failure to understand the OT Scriptures and the promise of His coming as the Son of God. They were passing judgment on Jesus, but Jesus warned them that the day was coming when they would be judged by Him. Everyone must understand that at the end, Jesus will raise all the dead and all will appear before Him to be judged.

Jesus responded to the accusations that He violated the Sabbath and that He made Himself equal with God. In the discourse that followed the healing of the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus challenged the Jews' failure to understand the OT Scriptures and the promise of His coming as the Son of God. They were passing judgment on Jesus, but Jesus warned them that the day was coming when they would be judged by Him. Everyone must understand that at the end, Jesus will raise all the dead and all will appear before Him to be judged.

Revelation and the End Times (continued)… Today Pastor Michael is continuing the “End Times” study.  We are now in the Tribulation period and part of the story of the things we go through in life is our struggles send us seeking God's grace, something immediately tangible during the Tribulation.  Michael covers two of the three 7's: the 7 seals and the 7 trumpets.  The 7 bowls will be covered next week.  It goes without saying, during the Tribulation, times are going to be rough.  There will be crazy, earth-wide events (judgments) that people will be placed under.  Conquest, war, famine and massive death.  Hail, massive fire, water pollution. Not a neat place to be.  Yet through it all, in spite of all of the literals signs that everyone will be living, there will be those that still do not repent.  John speaks of this specifically in Revelation 9: 20-21. But, as Christians, we know this: when everything seems out of control, God IS in control.   (CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) The message of Revelation has an enduring relevance for Christians of our century as well as the first. It is a profoundly theological book that uses symbols, metaphor, and figurative language from the OT Scriptures and the cultural traditions of the Greco-Roman world to speak about God and salvation. Though much of Revelation unveils how the Roman Empire perpetuates evil through its military, its social patronage system, and the imperial cult, these very same issues of violence, economic injustice, and idolatrous religious practice are just as cogent for the modern church that engages evil today as it was for the ancient Christian movement. Today's bible verses are found in Revelation Chapters 6 through 12 as well as emphasis on Chapter 9: 20-21.  

Paul experienced this during his second missionary journey: 1) Blind Rejection: the Jews in Thessalonica by and large blindly rejected the gospel. This wasn't driven by intellectual objections or not understanding it- it was driven by what they loved- by their commitment to the status quo. They loved having crowds come to synagogue- they loved their comfortable interpretation of Scripture- and when Paul's teaching got in the way they reacted with jealousy and hostility. Far too often this is us- we ignore, dismiss, twist Scripture when it messes with our lives- when it threatens our idols. 2) Eager Examination: The Berea's respond very differently to God's word preached- they receive it 1) eagerly- with anticipation, enthusiasm, readiness and 2) with examination- with discernment- filtering what Paul said through the OT Scriptures. This is a model for us to follow. It's all too easy to get apathetic- unengaged in our reception of God's word. Need to repent, ask for grace to change.

The Jewish leaders in Antioch reject the message of Paul and Barnabas so they turn to the gentiles. This sermon has two points: 1) Preaching to the Jews: Paul preaches a sermon all about Christ and the way he fulfilled the OT promises. Preaching in a Jewish Synagogue he emphasizes OT Scriptures, God’s promises, etc. And he adds how Jesus does what the law could not- brings forgiveness, freedom, justification. It’s good news. 2) Turning to the Gentiles: The Jews by and large reject Jesus and Paul and Barnabas turn to the Gentiles- the Gentiles embrace the message- the gospel spreads, the church grows, etc. This is a significant turning point in God’s plan and it is according to his sovereign design.

THE NECESSITY OF SCRIPTURE-- For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, -that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.-Rom 15-4---1. INTRODUCTION --a. Preaching plans for 2021.--b. Preaching plans submitted to the guidance of the Spirit. ---2. ANALYSIS--a. What- - OT Scriptures.--b. Why- - For our Learning.--c. How- - Through the Patience and Comfort of OT Scriptures.--d. So What- - Christian Hope.--e. Apply - -i. Christian Liberty. Rom 15-1-3-- Broader Christian Life. Rom 15-4--ii. Christian Unity. Rom 15-5-12-- Broader Christian Life. Rom 15-13---3. RELEVANCE--a. Scripture is the Conduit of our Christian Instruction.--b. Scripture is a Companion to us in our Christian Walk.--c. Scripture is the Cornerstone of our Christian Hope. Rom 8-20-25, Heb 9-26-28, John 14-1-3.---4. APPLICATION--a. Christians - Read your Bibles- 1 Pet 2-2--b. Seekers - Read the Bible--i. Read it to know who you are.-ii. Read it to know who Jesus is. John 5-39, Luke 24-27.

God went to great lengths for us to recognize Jesus when He shows up. In this message, Pastor Daryl Jesus teaches us that Jesus deserves our full allegiance because He is the promised Savior and Messiah of the OT Scriptures.

Prophecy enthusiasts believe the end is near. A plague has claimed many thousands of lives. Many believe it is a sign of the end times. Am I talking about the year 2020? No! I am talking about the year 1666. Many Londoners thought this may be the year that Jesus returns. In 1665 the world seemed to be on the brink of destruction as a plague claimed the lives of 100,000 people in London alone. Then in 1666 a London fire destroyed many thousands of buildings. Prophecy enthusiasts reasoned it had been 1000 years since the time of Christ plus the number of Antichrist (666) bringing them to 1666. Putting it all together it sure seemed like it all pointed to the end being at hand. Just one problem: None of this was tied to an accurate interpretation of the prophecy of Scripture. People have all kinds of ideas about prophecy, but frankly MOST of it is in error. Very little of what passes for prophecy today is actually in keeping with true biblical prophecy. There is nothing NEW under the sun. People that have very little knowledge of the Bible, or just enough knowledge to be dangerous, often claim their EXPERIENCE or their intuitive instincts are a sufficient guide related to the topic of prophecy. But what does the Bible really teach in context? That is the great issue to be considered! The subject of prophecy has fallen on hard times. Most of those professing to be Christian today have little or no interest in the subject. There are several reasons why I think this is true. 1. The disregard of prophecy is itself a sign of the times. 2 Peter 3:3–4 (ESV) 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” We should expect that if we are living in the last days of the Church Age that MANY will mock the idea that Christ will return again – or the idea that we are getting close to His return. We see that reality today. 2. Many, (perhaps even well intended) professing Christians have consistently overplayed their hand in claiming to KNOW the time of the end in a specific sense. In the 1800s a man by the name of William Miller (1782-1849) was a Baptist minister. Based on a flawed study of Dan. 8:14 he concluded that Christ would return by March 21, 1844. He gained a fairly large following of people called “Millerites”. And because of their preoccupation with the coming of Christ they were called “Adventists”. However, when Christ didn’t return as predicted, with a little help from his friends, Miller recalculated to Oct. 22, 1844. When the second date also proved wrong it was called “The Great Disappointment”. The entire movement then evolved into great error under the leadership of a false prophetess by the name of Ellen G. White (1827-1915). It developed into what is known as Seventh Day Adventism today. Edgar C. Whisenant, a former NASA engineer and Bible student, wrote a book titled 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 predicting the rapture would occur in 1988, sometime between Sept. 11 and Sept. 13. When it didn’t happen, he wrote another book titled, “The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989!” explaining that he had miscalculated by one year and that Jesus was actually returning in 1989. He then died in 2001 and Jesus still has not returned. Harold Camping said the Lord would return in 1994. It didn’t happen. Harold Camping recalculated and said the Lord would return on May 21, 2011, accompanied by an unparalleled earthquake that would be felt around the world. It didn’t happen. Harold Camping then said that his predictions for May 21st did happen “spiritually”. And then Camping said, the world would end in a holocaustic judgment on October 21, 2011. Finally, Camping admitted he was wrong and died in 2013. What a pathetic way to go. 2 Peter 2:1–2 (ESV) 1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. I am not saying that all those who are wrong about prophecy are all lost false teachers, but I am saying that errant teaching on prophecy does incalculable harm causing the TRUTH of God to be blasphemed. That is most serious, and I think in part it is one reason the subject of prophecy has fallen on hard times. 3. An inconsistent “Reformed” approach to prophetic Scripture. In recent years there has been a resurgence in those holding to Reformed Theology emphasizing what are called the doctrines of grace. Not all, but many, often mock dispensationalists like me who hold to a strong distinction between Israel and the Church and a pre-tribulation view of the Rapture. They claim such views are “Johnny Come Lately” views which were not endorsed by the Reformers. But I would argue that when it comes to “prophecy” the Reformers largely dropped the ball. They correctly insisted on getting back to a literal/normal understanding of Scripture – except in the case of prophecy. Here they were inconsistent – allowing for an allegorical treatment of the Scripture. This error has caused all kinds of confusion right down to the present time. A consistent approach to the interpretation of the Bible if consistent – consistently interprets all parts of the Bible, including prophecy, in context, and in a normal/literal fashion. 4. The “Now/Me” mentality that pervades so much of modern Christianity. Many people don’t want sound doctrine. They want “practical” stuff that caters to them and this life. They don’t want to talk about “future things” related to the hereafter. The SOUND doctrine of prophecy therefore is OUT. For them it's all about “me” and “now”. It’s about “My Best Life Now”. In doing so what they really clamor for is a “man-centered theology” instead of a “God centered theology” and the tragedy is that MOST don’t even realize the error of their ways (cf. 2 Tim. 4:1-5). In truth there is value in the whole counsel of God. There is a reason that 27% of the Scripture as given was prophecy. If you don’t like prophecy you are going to have to do away with HUGE portions of the Bible. The Bible is a prophetic book. God is a God of prophecy. All Scripture is given by inspiration and it is all profitable (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16). None of it is to be neglected, certainly not the prophetic parts. Our very faith is “prophetic”. It was prophesied in the OT and fulfilled in the NT. That is why Paul says the gospel of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection is “according to the Scriptures” – meaning “according to the prophetic OT Scriptures” (cf. 1 Cor. 15:1-4). Tucked away in 1 Chron. 12:32 is this statement: “The sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do”. In context they understood that David was God’s man to be king. They understood that all the tribes should get together and crown David as the new king of Israel. They understood God’s revelation through His prophet Samuel, and they sought to apply it to life. The need for understanding and discernment is also critical for our day. We need to know what God says and apply it to life. Prophecy is consistently linked with how we should then live. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day saying: Matthew 16:2–3 (ESV) 2 He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. What were the signs of the times that they missed? Well, it was the prophetic fulfillment of the prophecies in the OT Scriptures that were fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus. The “signs of the times” directly related to Jesus. The Bible is uniquely a book of prophecy. There is no other book in the world like this book. There is no other book that comes close – frankly there is no other book even in the running. The Bible ALONE is truly prophetic. In the Bible 8,352 verses out of 31,124 refer to prophetic issues. That is 27% of the Bible. Scholars tell us there are 333 specific prophecies about Christ in the Bible. 109 of them were fulfilled at His first coming; leaving 224 yet to be fulfilled at His second coming. This means that 1/3 of the prophecies about Christ have already been fulfilled. There are about 1000 total prophecies in the Bible with about 500 of them having already been fulfilled. Prophecy is about predicting the future. One thing about humans is that whenever they try to predict the future they consistently get it wrong. Yogi Berra (that famous theologian) once said, “Prediction is hard, especially when it’s about the future.” Dr. Norman Geisler said, “Not a single prediction of Nostradamus has ever proved genuine.” Steve Jobs (Founder of Apple) said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” Humanly speaking that is true. But here is the deal: God gives the dots looking forward. That is prophecy. God tells us the dots before they are even in place and then He brings them to pass. This is GOD'S GLORY ALONE! Now as we look back, we see the dots God told us in advance and then we see how they all connect in perfect harmony. This is the prophetic glory of God. In contrast to human predictions, God never gets it wrong. True prophecy is always 100% accurate all the time. This is because true prophecy is of God. The God of the Bible is UNIQUELY a God of prophecy! 2 Peter 1:20–21 (ESV) 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Rebekah Hargraves is the host of the Home and Hearth Podcast, which, up until recently, has always been mostly an interview-style podcast. Now, however, she is branching out into recording the seventh of her solo podcasts to talk today on the topic of God's beautiful "ezer" design for women and its implications for our understanding of Biblical womanhood.  What She Chats about in Today's Episode: ~The full definition of the Hebrew word "ezer" translated as "helper" in Genesis 2:18 ~A survey of the OT Scriptures to discover the 21 times this word is used ~The definition of the Hebrew word "azer", the root word behind "ezer" ~A survey of the OT Scriptures to discover how "azer" is used; its full definition and meaning in the Word; what this all reveals to us about God's design for women and their God-given roles and responsibilities to come alongside men, partnering with them to subdue and take dominion ~The problem with both the "I am woman, hear me roar" concept as well as the "Women are subordinate to men" concept ~The wrong understanding of the word "helper" or "helpmeet" that we can come to if we follow the culture's teachings rather than the reality of the Hebrew meaning behind that word ~The warrior-nature of ezers; the way in which this Hebrew word is also used to refer to the mighty men of valor who fought in Israel's army ~3 characteristics of a Biblical helper: *Being a helper is a position of great strength and valor (see Joshua 1:14, 10:, 1 Chronicles 5:20, 12:1, 21) *Being a helper is a position of ministry and edification (1 Kings 14:26, 1 Chronicles 12:18, Job 29:12, Psalm 28:7, Psalm 37:40, Psalm 79:9, Isaiah 41:10) *The New Testament position of Helper is what actually grows and sustains the church (see the Holy Spirit's role described in John 14:16, 26; 15:26, 16:7, 1 John 2:1) ~What the context of Genesis 2:18 (i.e. Genesis 1:27-28) reveals to us as to the mission and tasks associated with us being ezer helpers as women ~How the "ezer" role coincides with Paul's admonition to women to be "managers" and "guardians" of their homes and families  ~The Victorian (not Biblical) idea that there are to be separate spheres for the sexes ~God's 'ezer' design for women as a design that all women everywhere can live out, whether they are married or single, childless or running a house full of children, young or old ~And more! For full shownotes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast

The Transfiguration, the OT Scriptures and the heavenly Father each bear witness to Christ and the glory that will come to Him after He walks the path of suffering and death to save us from our sins.

EveryWord003 Mark 2   Welcome to this THIRD podcast in a series that I am calling the Every Word Podcast. This is a podcast series for those who enjoy studying details found in God’s Word. In every episode I will read from Dr. Wilbur Pickering’s fresh-sounding translation of the New Testament, to which he gave the name, “The Sovereign God Has Spoken.” In today’s episode, I will read and comment on Pickering’s translation of Mark chapter 2.   Please bear in mind that the episode notes for all of my podcasts provide the text of everything I’m saying and links to supporting documentation.   Dr. Pickering’s translation is based on the Majority Text of the Greek New Testament, which is also called the Byzantine Text. I consider the Majority Text to be superior to the Eclectic Greek Text** which was used as the basis of most of the NT translations of the last century.  **Footnote: The Eclectic Text is also called the Critical Text, the Nestle-Aland text, and the United Bible Societies (UBS) Text. The succeeding editions of the Eclectic Text have primarily followed Wescott and Hort, while the apparatus (or footnotes) dealing with textual variations has grown significantly to show details about textual variants found among Alexandrian manuscripts.   The shift in the Greek text used for our Bible translations began around 1881, with the publication of Wescott and Hort’s Greek New Testament, which was based on an extremely small sampling of manuscripts of the Alexandrian Text Type*— that is from Egypt.  *Footnote: The two are Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. These are dated at 330-360 AD and 300-325 respectively. At the time Wescott and Hort were working, it was anticipated that research into newly discovered ancient New manuscripts from Egypt would reveal a coherent textual stream that would point to the authentic initial form of the Greek text. Now, over a century later, those ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscripts have been analyzed, but they do not reveal a coherent textual stream that can be followed. Instead the papyri manuscripts reveal that Egyptian scribes very freely edited the texts they copied. In contrast, the Majority Text of the New Testament was made by copyists who lived in the same places as the original recipients of the apostles’ writings. Individual scribal errors have been weeded out, since this text type is based on the majority reading of thousands of Greek manuscripts.   The Majority Text has been stable over the centuries and is the best academically defendable text of the Greek New Testament that we have today. It is my hope that these podcasts will build awareness of the faulty Greek text that underlies almost all of the English Bible translations of the last century, starting with the ASV (1901), and including RSV, NASB, NIV, GNT, NLT, NET, and ESV.   It is high time (now that I’ve reached the 3rd podcast) that I admit to you that— although I have worked as a Bible translator for most of my life— I am a new-comer to the whole study of textual criticism. In my article Playing Follow-the-Leader in Bible Translation, I speak about how little missionary Bible translators of my generation were trained in the area of textual criticism. I— unlike many of my colleagues— did not have the benefit of seminary education. My degrees are in the field of music. But from what I have heard from my seminary-trained colleagues, there is not much taught to normal seminary students about textual criticism. Few pastors today know anything about the subject.   It was in April of 2018 that I had the opportunity to visit Timothy and Barbara Friberg in Indonesia. Four years prior to this my team and I had published the Plain Indonesian NT. Dr. Timothy Friberg is famous for compiling the Analytical Greek New Testament, which is a reference work that virtually all Bible translators use. (Incidentally the AGNT is now being released in a new and improved edition.) I sought Dr. Fribergs advice because of his experience translating the NT for Muslim background audiences, because I am a consultant for such a project. During my two-day visit, I received excellent advice, but also received a bonus I didn’t expect. Tim Friberg convinced me that the Majority Greek Text should be used in translating the New Testament for Muslim background believers.    But then he asked, “Well, what about your Plain Indonesian New Testament? Are you going to revise that to follow the Majority Text?” This was a hard question for me because that NT was already published. I had just played follow-the-leader in basing that translation on the Eclectic text. After some thought and prayer, I concluded that God would be most glorified if my translation team and I  revised our published New Testament to follow the Majority Text. The revisions are now about 75% complete. Please pray for us in this: Please pray that we will work carefully so that we do not make mistakes as we revise the Plain Indonesian New Testament. Please pray that Bible readers in Indonesia would be happy to have a translation following the Majority Text, even though that will make our translation different from the default Indonesian Bible. Being aware that the United Bible Society publishes the Eclectic Greek Text, please pray that the Indonesian Bible Society or other parties will not publicly criticize our move to the Majority Text.    As I admitted above, I do not have training in the field of textual criticism. Because of that, I am sure that I have already made mistakes in these EveryWord podcasts. If you find errors in my statements, feel free to use the contact button at dailybiblereading.info to send your input to me.    Mark 2  Pickering’s footnotes are indented and italicized in the PDF attached to this podcast. Find EveryWord003 at dailybiblereading.info and use the red Download PDF button to get it. A paralytic— the evaluation ¹ Well a few days later, He again entered Capernaum, and it was heard that He was at home. ² Without delay so many were gathered together that there was no more room, not even around the door, and He was speaking the Word to them. ³ Then four men came, carrying a paralytic to Him. ⁴ And not being able to get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof where He was;  The roof was presumably flat, with an outside staircase leading up to it. I suppose damaging someone else’s roof could be considered a crime, but they were determined. If Jesus was in His own house, there would be no problem.  upon breaking through they lowered the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵ So seeing their faith Jesus says to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you”. ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts: ⁷ “Why does this guy speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus perceived in His spirit what they were reasoning within themselves  *Time and again the Inspired Record will point out that Jesus could read people’s thoughts. and said to them: “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier:  *I suppose the point to be that the first is easier to say, because no one can see whether it happened or not. But if you tell a paralytic to get up and he doesn’t, you get egg on the face. The Lord did it that way to help them believe that He could really forgive sin. There was nothing wrong with the scribes’ inference; indeed only God can forgive sin, so in fact Jesus was claiming to be God!  to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins have been forgiven’, or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and start walking!’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins” —He says to the paralytic: ¹¹ “To you I say, get up, pick up your pallet and go to your house!” ¹² So forthwith he got up, picked up his pallet and went out in front of them all; so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”  Quite right; they never had!   PCF: I agree heartily with Pickering’s footnote on v. 8. I think especially of the Gospel of John that repeatedly shows that Jesus could read people’s thoughts.   I do not agree with Pickering’s first sentence about ‘which is easier to say’. The idea he supports is that it would be easier to forgive sins because no one could tell if it happened. But even he seems a bit doubtful about saying that, because his sentence starts with, “I suppose the point to be …”  Yes, the interpretation he gives— that forgiving the man’s sins would be the easier to say— can be found in some commentaries. But that is worldly thinking. Jesus would have known that saying ‘I forgive your sins’ would mean that He would pay for those sins on the cross.    But Pickering is right in the last part of that footnote. Only God can forgive sin, so the scribes’ inference was right. He might as well as said, ‘I am God’.   There is interesting linguistic support for only God being able to forgive sins. In the Orya language of Papua, Indonesia, and in many other languages, ordinary persons cannot ‘forgive’ someone else’s wrongs or sins. The word  the Orya language uses for forgiving on a person-to-person level is simply to ‘forget’. You can choose to ‘forget’ a sin someone commits against you. But the real word for ‘forgive’ in Orya means to ‘finish’ or ‘nullify’ the sin. Only God can finish all the liabilities of a sin or nullify the consequences. So the scribes were right that it takes an action of God to have one’s sins forgiven. Matthew called ¹³ Then He went out again by the sea; and the whole crowd came to Him, and He began to teach them. ¹⁴ As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow me”. So he got up and followed Him. ¹⁵ Now it happened, as He was reclining at the table in his house,  Matthew’s—he evidently put on a big dinner and invited all his associates.  that many tax collectors and sinners  ‘Tax collectors and sinners’ seems to have been almost a frozen idiom. A Jew who collected taxes for Rome was viewed as a traitor and held in very low esteem.  joined Jesus and His disciples at the table; for there were many and they followed Him. ¹⁶ The scribes and the Pharisees, seeing Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, said to His disciples, “Why is it that He is eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ Upon hearing it Jesus said to them: “It is not the healthy who have need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  Perhaps 10% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘to repentance’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.   Fasting ¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?” ¹⁹ So Jesus said to them: “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom to themselves they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast, in those days.  Some 15% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘day’ instead of ‘days’ (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.), but obviously the fasting would take place on more than one day.   PCF: The two textual variants from the Majority Text that Pickering points out in verses 17 and 20 both make better sense than what is found in the Eclectic text. In particular, it seems a shame that most Bibles of the last century left out the words ‘to repentance’ in verse 17. The men who compiled the Eclectic Text chose a principle that would favor the Alexandrian manuscripts. They decided that a shorter variant in a text was more likely to be correct. Verse 17 is shorter without the two words ‘to repentance’ but it leaves the reader wondering, “Where is Jesus calling sinners to come to?” In the early years of the Eclectic Text movement, people did not yet realize that Alexandrian copyists frequently shortened the texts they copied. This goes for secular works as well as NT books. Alexandrian copies of Homer’s poems are much shorter than manuscripts found in other places.    Together with verse 17, there are four places where Mark’s account uses the words ‘repent’ and ‘repentance’. Clearly the call to repentance was an important part of what both John the Baptist and Jesus taught. In Mark, Jesus sent the disciples out preaching that people ‘should repent’. (6:11) So having Jesus say that his mission was to call sinners to repent makes good sense in the context of this gospel. Cloth and wineskins ²¹ “Further, no one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the new tears away some of the old, and a worse hole results. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine spills out and the skins will be ruined; rather, new wine must be put into new wineskins.”  There is no way of renewing an old wineskin. Whenever a church becomes an ‘old wineskin’, any introduction of new wine will always cause a split.   Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath ²³  Between verses 22 and 23 all of John chapter 5 takes place—that chapter revolves around the second Passover of His public ministry, in 28 A.D. A year and a half have passed since His baptism.  Now it happened, on a Sabbath, that He was passing through some grain fields, and His disciples began to make a path, picking the heads of grain. ²⁴ So the Pharisees said to Him, “Just look, why are they doing on a Sabbath that which is not permitted?” ²⁵ And He said to them: “Did you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him? ²⁶ How he entered the house of God (making Abiathar high priest)  My rendering is rather different than the ‘in the days of Abiathar the high priest’ of the AV. We are translating three Greek words that very literally would be ‘upon Abiathar high priest’. When we go back to the Old Testament account, we discover that David actually conversed with Ahimelech, Abiathar’s father, who was the high priest at that moment (1 Samuel 21:1-9). Within a few days Saul massacred Ahimelech and 84 other priests (1 Samuel 22:16-18), but his son Abiathar escaped and went to David, taking the ephod with him (1 Samuel 22:20-23; 23:6). That David could use it to inquire of the LORD rather suggests that it had to be the ephod that only the high priest wore (1 Samuel 23:9-12). That ephod was to a high priest like the crown was to a king; so how could Abiathar have it? The Text states that David’s visit filled Ahimelech with fear, presumably because he too saw Doeg the Edomite and figured what would happen. Now why wasn’t Abiathar taken with the others? I suggest that Ahimelech had a pretty good idea what would happen, so he deliberately consecrated Abiathar, gave him the ephod, and told him to hide; Abiathar escaped, but carried the news of the massacre with him; only now he was the high priest. Putting it all together, it was David’s visit that resulted in Abiathar’s becoming high priest prematurely, as David himself recognized, and to which Jesus alluded.  and ate the consecrated bread, which only priests are permitted to eat, and shared it with those who were with him?” ²⁷ Then He said to them: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  This is a crucial point. The Pharisees, etc., had turned the Sabbath into an instrument of domination that they used to impose their authority on the people. ²⁸ Therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”  The Lord of the Sabbath can change the rules, or even retire it!   Abiathar is not Ahimelech  Mark 2:26 X 1 Samuel 21:1  Some of my readers may be aware that this verse has destroyed the faith of at least one scholar in our day, although he was reared in an evangelical home. He understood Jesus to be saying that Abiathar was the priest with whom David dealt, when in fact it was his father, Ahimelech. If Jesus stated an historical error as fact, then he could not be God. So he turned his back on Jesus. I consider that his decision was lamentable and unnecessary, and in the interest of helping others who may be troubled by this verse, I offer the following explanation:  “How he entered the house of God (making Abiathar high priest) and ate the consecrated bread, which only priests are permitted to eat, and shared it with those who were with him.”    My rendering is rather different than the ‘in the days of Abiathar the high priest’ of the AV, NKJV and NIV. We are translating three Greek words that very literally would be ‘upon Abiathar high-priest’ (but the preposition here, επι, is the most versatile of the Greek prepositions, and one of its many meanings/uses is 'toward'―the standard lexicon, BDAG, lists fully eighteen areas of meaning, quite apart from sub-divisions). When we go back to the Old Testament account, we discover that David actually conversed with Ahimelech, Abiathar’s father, who was the high priest at that moment (1 Samuel 21:1-9). Within a few days Saul massacred Ahimelech and 84 other priests (1 Samuel 22:16-18), but his son Abiathar escaped and went to David, taking the ephod with him (1Samuel 22:20-23; 23:6). That David could use it to inquire of the Lord rather suggests that it had to be the ephod that only the high priest wore, since only that ephod had the Urim and Thummim (1 Samuel 23:9-12; cf. Numbers 27:21, Ezra 2:63).    That ephod was to a high priest like the crown was to a king; so how could Abiathar have it? The Text states that David’s visit filled Ahimelech with fear, presumably because he too saw Doeg the Edomite and figured what would happen. Now why wasn’t Abiathar taken with the others? I suggest that Ahimelech foresaw what would happen (Doeg probably took off immediately, and Ahimelech figured he wouldn't have much time), so he deliberately consecrated Abiathar, gave him the ephod, and told him to hide―he probably did it that very day (once the soldiers arrived to arrest Ahimelech and the other 84, it would be too late). Abiathar escaped, but carried the news of the massacre with him; only now he was the high priest.    Putting it all together, it was David’s visit that resulted in Abiathar’s becoming high priest prematurely, as David himself recognized, and to which Jesus alluded in passing (which is why I used parentheses). But why would Jesus allude to that? I suppose because the Bible is straightforward about the consequences of sin, and David lied to Ahimelech. Although Jesus was using David's eating that bread as an example, He did not wish to gloss over the sin, and its consequences.    Recall that Jesus was addressing Pharisees, who were steeped in the OT Scriptures. A notorious case like Saul's massacre of 85 priests would be very well known. And of course, none of the NT had yet been written, so any understanding of what Jesus said had to be based on 1 Samuel (“Have you never read…?”). If we today wish to understand this passage, we need to place ourselves in the context recorded in Mark 2:23-28. The Pharisees would understand that if Abiathar was in possession of the ephod with the Urim and Thummim, then he was the high priest. And how did he get that way? He got that way because of David's visit. It was an immediate consequence of that visit.    Some may object that 'making' is a verb, not a preposition. Well, the 'in the days of' of the AV, etc., though not a verb, is a phrase. Both a pronoun and an adverb may stand for a phrase, and a preposition may as well. TEV and Phillips actually use a verb: ‘when… was’; NLT has ‘during the days when… was’. Where the others used from two to five words, I used only one.     PCF: Just a little comment from me on the this topic. The problem in this verse is very hard to deal with, and I am linking an article here written by Dr. Daniel Wallace to illustrate how hard this is. As I said before, we can’t prove anything because of how vague Greek prepositions are. An added thing to think about is that Jesus could have been speaking in Aramaic, not Greek, because that was the everyday language for him. I am willing to set this aside as a problem we cannot solve for sure. But one thing I hold onto is that God’s Word is true in the Old Testament record, and what Jesus said was also true. It seems more likely to me to conclude that He knew much more than us about it, and various things could have happened like what Pickering posits.   Secondly I think the comment about this verse destroying the faith of a Christian scholar is interesting. If you know who that scholar was, please let me know. My searches on the internet for likely choices failed to turn up the answer. Just the other day my son, David, mentioned how a little thing like this that erodes one’s faith puts a person on a dangerous slippery slope. He told about a fellow graduate of his Christian university who was his friend. But the friend learned things that shook his faith. He ended up as a pastor in an extremely liberal denomination. But now he has left even that and has taken up with Hindus in India, but it is unclear if he really believes what they teach either.    A little thing like the presence of footnotes in our Bibles could be the thing that would cause someone to embark on that slippery downward slope. People will think, “Well, who knows what the apostles really wrote?” This has been a problem with the adoption of the Eclectic Text starting in 1901, which has contributed to liberalism in the church for over a century. Now I ask my listeners, Would your church hire someone as (let’s say) an associate pastor if the person did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible? I think I can hear the answer. My church wouldn’t. If someone interviewed for a job at my church without believing in Jesus or the inspiration of the Bible, the interview would quickly change to my pastor seeking to share the Gospel with that person. So then I ask, Do you think that it would be a good idea to trust a person with beliefs like that to manage the Greek text that is translated for our Bibles? I don’t think so! I recommend an an article I found about the beliefs of Kurt Aland, the one whose name is on the publications of the Nestle-Aland Eclectic Greek Text. It is linked here in the episode notes.      The episode notes for all of the Every Word podcasts will include a Resources section which gives links to articles that will give further documentation about all of my claims about the Majority Text, the Eclectic Text, and about different Bible translations.   All of Dr. Wilbur Pickering’s works are released according to the Creative Commons License and are available at PRUNCH.net. Additionally, his second edition (2016) NT translation is available for a free download via the Kindle app. It is also freely available as a module in the MyBible program for Android and Apple devices.    Dr. Pickering named his NT, “The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken.” That title contains three concepts that were not believed by Wescott and Hort. In their age Darwinism had invaded the church. W&H  did not believe that our Creator created humans as described in Genesis. They did not believe in the sovereignty of God. Nor did they believe that God has actively inspired every word of Scripture and has made sure that every word has been preserved.   Moses and Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but by Every Word of God.” (Deut. 8:3; Luk. 4:4)   May the Lord bless you ‘real good’!   Resources: Fields, Philip: Playing Follow the Leader in Bible Translation, 2019, by Phil Fields. See the Resources list in that article for many more helpful articles on the superiority of the Majority Greek Text.   Friberg, Timothy:  On the text of the Greek New Testament that also happens to be the right one for cousin audiences Although the title of this four-page paper refers to translating for Muslims, the principles and summary is widely applicable.  I suggest reading this paper before reading Friberg’s other articles listed below.   Layman’s Guide — A modest explanation for the layman of ideas related to determining the text of the Greek New Testament, 2019.   What is what? — Differences between the Traditional Text and the Bible Society Text of the Greek New Testament. Some data for the reader to weigh, 2019.   Pickering, Wilbur: New Translation of the New Testament: The Sovereign Creator has Spoken Greek Text of the New Testament based on Family 35   Articles and other major works: See PRUNCH.net. Robinson, Maurice: The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform, 1991, 2005, 2018.  This is available in free digital form in the MyBible Bible app, and in other ways.   Article: Full Text of the 105 verses lacking overall Greek Manuscript Support in the NA edition 27

EveryWord003 Mark 2   Welcome to this THIRD podcast in a series that I am calling the Every Word Podcast. This is a podcast series for those who enjoy studying details found in God’s Word. In every episode I will read from Dr. Wilbur Pickering’s fresh-sounding translation of the New Testament, to which he gave the name, “The Sovereign God Has Spoken.” In today’s episode, I will read and comment on Pickering’s translation of Mark chapter 2.   Please bear in mind that the episode notes for all of my podcasts provide the text of everything I’m saying and links to supporting documentation.   Dr. Pickering’s translation is based on the Majority Text of the Greek New Testament, which is also called the Byzantine Text. I consider the Majority Text to be superior to the Eclectic Greek Text** which was used as the basis of most of the NT translations of the last century.  **Footnote: The Eclectic Text is also called the Critical Text, the Nestle-Aland text, and the United Bible Societies (UBS) Text. The succeeding editions of the Eclectic Text have primarily followed Wescott and Hort, while the apparatus (or footnotes) dealing with textual variations has grown significantly to show details about textual variants found among Alexandrian manuscripts.   The shift in the Greek text used for our Bible translations began around 1881, with the publication of Wescott and Hort’s Greek New Testament, which was based on an extremely small sampling of manuscripts of the Alexandrian Text Type*— that is from Egypt.  *Footnote: The two are Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. These are dated at 330-360 AD and 300-325 respectively. At the time Wescott and Hort were working, it was anticipated that research into newly discovered ancient New manuscripts from Egypt would reveal a coherent textual stream that would point to the authentic initial form of the Greek text. Now, over a century later, those ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscripts have been analyzed, but they do not reveal a coherent textual stream that can be followed. Instead the papyri manuscripts reveal that Egyptian scribes very freely edited the texts they copied. In contrast, the Majority Text of the New Testament was made by copyists who lived in the same places as the original recipients of the apostles’ writings. Individual scribal errors have been weeded out, since this text type is based on the majority reading of thousands of Greek manuscripts.   The Majority Text has been stable over the centuries and is the best academically defendable text of the Greek New Testament that we have today. It is my hope that these podcasts will build awareness of the faulty Greek text that underlies almost all of the English Bible translations of the last century, starting with the ASV (1901), and including RSV, NASB, NIV, GNT, NLT, NET, and ESV.   It is high time (now that I’ve reached the 3rd podcast) that I admit to you that— although I have worked as a Bible translator for most of my life— I am a new-comer to the whole study of textual criticism. In my article Playing Follow-the-Leader in Bible Translation, I speak about how little missionary Bible translators of my generation were trained in the area of textual criticism. I— unlike many of my colleagues— did not have the benefit of seminary education. My degrees are in the field of music. But from what I have heard from my seminary-trained colleagues, there is not much taught to normal seminary students about textual criticism. Few pastors today know anything about the subject.   It was in April of 2018 that I had the opportunity to visit Timothy and Barbara Friberg in Indonesia. Four years prior to this my team and I had published the Plain Indonesian NT. Dr. Timothy Friberg is famous for compiling the Analytical Greek New Testament, which is a reference work that virtually all Bible translators use. (Incidentally the AGNT is now being released in a new and improved edition.) I sought Dr. Fribergs advice because of his experience translating the NT for Muslim background audiences, because I am a consultant for such a project. During my two-day visit, I received excellent advice, but also received a bonus I didn’t expect. Tim Friberg convinced me that the Majority Greek Text should be used in translating the New Testament for Muslim background believers.    But then he asked, “Well, what about your Plain Indonesian New Testament? Are you going to revise that to follow the Majority Text?” This was a hard question for me because that NT was already published. I had just played follow-the-leader in basing that translation on the Eclectic text. After some thought and prayer, I concluded that God would be most glorified if my translation team and I  revised our published New Testament to follow the Majority Text. The revisions are now about 75% complete. Please pray for us in this: Please pray that we will work carefully so that we do not make mistakes as we revise the Plain Indonesian New Testament. Please pray that Bible readers in Indonesia would be happy to have a translation following the Majority Text, even though that will make our translation different from the default Indonesian Bible. Being aware that the United Bible Society publishes the Eclectic Greek Text, please pray that the Indonesian Bible Society or other parties will not publicly criticize our move to the Majority Text.    As I admitted above, I do not have training in the field of textual criticism. Because of that, I am sure that I have already made mistakes in these EveryWord podcasts. If you find errors in my statements, feel free to use the contact button at dailybiblereading.info to send your input to me.    Mark 2  Pickering’s footnotes are indented and italicized in the PDF attached to this podcast. Find EveryWord003 at dailybiblereading.info and use the red Download PDF button to get it. A paralytic— the evaluation ¹ Well a few days later, He again entered Capernaum, and it was heard that He was at home. ² Without delay so many were gathered together that there was no more room, not even around the door, and He was speaking the Word to them. ³ Then four men came, carrying a paralytic to Him. ⁴ And not being able to get near Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof where He was;  The roof was presumably flat, with an outside staircase leading up to it. I suppose damaging someone else’s roof could be considered a crime, but they were determined. If Jesus was in His own house, there would be no problem.  upon breaking through they lowered the pallet on which the paralytic was lying. ⁵ So seeing their faith Jesus says to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you”. ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts: ⁷ “Why does this guy speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ Immediately Jesus perceived in His spirit what they were reasoning within themselves  *Time and again the Inspired Record will point out that Jesus could read people’s thoughts. and said to them: “Why are you reasoning these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier:  *I suppose the point to be that the first is easier to say, because no one can see whether it happened or not. But if you tell a paralytic to get up and he doesn’t, you get egg on the face. The Lord did it that way to help them believe that He could really forgive sin. There was nothing wrong with the scribes’ inference; indeed only God can forgive sin, so in fact Jesus was claiming to be God!  to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins have been forgiven’, or to say, ‘Get up, pick up your pallet and start walking!’? ¹⁰ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins” —He says to the paralytic: ¹¹ “To you I say, get up, pick up your pallet and go to your house!” ¹² So forthwith he got up, picked up his pallet and went out in front of them all; so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”  Quite right; they never had!   PCF: I agree heartily with Pickering’s footnote on v. 8. I think especially of the Gospel of John that repeatedly shows that Jesus could read people’s thoughts.   I do not agree with Pickering’s first sentence about ‘which is easier to say’. The idea he supports is that it would be easier to forgive sins because no one could tell if it happened. But even he seems a bit doubtful about saying that, because his sentence starts with, “I suppose the point to be …”  Yes, the interpretation he gives— that forgiving the man’s sins would be the easier to say— can be found in some commentaries. But that is worldly thinking. Jesus would have known that saying ‘I forgive your sins’ would mean that He would pay for those sins on the cross.    But Pickering is right in the last part of that footnote. Only God can forgive sin, so the scribes’ inference was right. He might as well as said, ‘I am God’.   There is interesting linguistic support for only God being able to forgive sins. In the Orya language of Papua, Indonesia, and in many other languages, ordinary persons cannot ‘forgive’ someone else’s wrongs or sins. The word  the Orya language uses for forgiving on a person-to-person level is simply to ‘forget’. You can choose to ‘forget’ a sin someone commits against you. But the real word for ‘forgive’ in Orya means to ‘finish’ or ‘nullify’ the sin. Only God can finish all the liabilities of a sin or nullify the consequences. So the scribes were right that it takes an action of God to have one’s sins forgiven. Matthew called ¹³ Then He went out again by the sea; and the whole crowd came to Him, and He began to teach them. ¹⁴ As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow me”. So he got up and followed Him. ¹⁵ Now it happened, as He was reclining at the table in his house,  Matthew’s—he evidently put on a big dinner and invited all his associates.  that many tax collectors and sinners  ‘Tax collectors and sinners’ seems to have been almost a frozen idiom. A Jew who collected taxes for Rome was viewed as a traitor and held in very low esteem.  joined Jesus and His disciples at the table; for there were many and they followed Him. ¹⁶ The scribes and the Pharisees, seeing Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, said to His disciples, “Why is it that He is eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ Upon hearing it Jesus said to them: “It is not the healthy who have need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”  Perhaps 10% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘to repentance’, to be followed by NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.   Fasting ¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees were fasting; and they came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?” ¹⁹ So Jesus said to them: “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom to themselves they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast, in those days.  Some 15% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘day’ instead of ‘days’ (as in NIV, NASB, TEV, etc.), but obviously the fasting would take place on more than one day.   PCF: The two textual variants from the Majority Text that Pickering points out in verses 17 and 20 both make better sense than what is found in the Eclectic text. In particular, it seems a shame that most Bibles of the last century left out the words ‘to repentance’ in verse 17. The men who compiled the Eclectic Text chose a principle that would favor the Alexandrian manuscripts. They decided that a shorter variant in a text was more likely to be correct. Verse 17 is shorter without the two words ‘to repentance’ but it leaves the reader wondering, “Where is Jesus calling sinners to come to?” In the early years of the Eclectic Text movement, people did not yet realize that Alexandrian copyists frequently shortened the texts they copied. This goes for secular works as well as NT books. Alexandrian copies of Homer’s poems are much shorter than manuscripts found in other places.    Together with verse 17, there are four places where Mark’s account uses the words ‘repent’ and ‘repentance’. Clearly the call to repentance was an important part of what both John the Baptist and Jesus taught. In Mark, Jesus sent the disciples out preaching that people ‘should repent’. (6:11) So having Jesus say that his mission was to call sinners to repent makes good sense in the context of this gospel. Cloth and wineskins ²¹ “Further, no one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the new tears away some of the old, and a worse hole results. ²² And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine spills out and the skins will be ruined; rather, new wine must be put into new wineskins.”  There is no way of renewing an old wineskin. Whenever a church becomes an ‘old wineskin’, any introduction of new wine will always cause a split.   Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath ²³  Between verses 22 and 23 all of John chapter 5 takes place—that chapter revolves around the second Passover of His public ministry, in 28 A.D. A year and a half have passed since His baptism.  Now it happened, on a Sabbath, that He was passing through some grain fields, and His disciples began to make a path, picking the heads of grain. ²⁴ So the Pharisees said to Him, “Just look, why are they doing on a Sabbath that which is not permitted?” ²⁵ And He said to them: “Did you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him? ²⁶ How he entered the house of God (making Abiathar high priest)  My rendering is rather different than the ‘in the days of Abiathar the high priest’ of the AV. We are translating three Greek words that very literally would be ‘upon Abiathar high priest’. When we go back to the Old Testament account, we discover that David actually conversed with Ahimelech, Abiathar’s father, who was the high priest at that moment (1 Samuel 21:1-9). Within a few days Saul massacred Ahimelech and 84 other priests (1 Samuel 22:16-18), but his son Abiathar escaped and went to David, taking the ephod with him (1 Samuel 22:20-23; 23:6). That David could use it to inquire of the LORD rather suggests that it had to be the ephod that only the high priest wore (1 Samuel 23:9-12). That ephod was to a high priest like the crown was to a king; so how could Abiathar have it? The Text states that David’s visit filled Ahimelech with fear, presumably because he too saw Doeg the Edomite and figured what would happen. Now why wasn’t Abiathar taken with the others? I suggest that Ahimelech had a pretty good idea what would happen, so he deliberately consecrated Abiathar, gave him the ephod, and told him to hide; Abiathar escaped, but carried the news of the massacre with him; only now he was the high priest. Putting it all together, it was David’s visit that resulted in Abiathar’s becoming high priest prematurely, as David himself recognized, and to which Jesus alluded.  and ate the consecrated bread, which only priests are permitted to eat, and shared it with those who were with him?” ²⁷ Then He said to them: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  This is a crucial point. The Pharisees, etc., had turned the Sabbath into an instrument of domination that they used to impose their authority on the people. ²⁸ Therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”  The Lord of the Sabbath can change the rules, or even retire it!   Abiathar is not Ahimelech  Mark 2:26 X 1 Samuel 21:1  Some of my readers may be aware that this verse has destroyed the faith of at least one scholar in our day, although he was reared in an evangelical home. He understood Jesus to be saying that Abiathar was the priest with whom David dealt, when in fact it was his father, Ahimelech. If Jesus stated an historical error as fact, then he could not be God. So he turned his back on Jesus. I consider that his decision was lamentable and unnecessary, and in the interest of helping others who may be troubled by this verse, I offer the following explanation:  “How he entered the house of God (making Abiathar high priest) and ate the consecrated bread, which only priests are permitted to eat, and shared it with those who were with him.”    My rendering is rather different than the ‘in the days of Abiathar the high priest’ of the AV, NKJV and NIV. We are translating three Greek words that very literally would be ‘upon Abiathar high-priest’ (but the preposition here, επι, is the most versatile of the Greek prepositions, and one of its many meanings/uses is 'toward'―the standard lexicon, BDAG, lists fully eighteen areas of meaning, quite apart from sub-divisions). When we go back to the Old Testament account, we discover that David actually conversed with Ahimelech, Abiathar’s father, who was the high priest at that moment (1 Samuel 21:1-9). Within a few days Saul massacred Ahimelech and 84 other priests (1 Samuel 22:16-18), but his son Abiathar escaped and went to David, taking the ephod with him (1Samuel 22:20-23; 23:6). That David could use it to inquire of the Lord rather suggests that it had to be the ephod that only the high priest wore, since only that ephod had the Urim and Thummim (1 Samuel 23:9-12; cf. Numbers 27:21, Ezra 2:63).    That ephod was to a high priest like the crown was to a king; so how could Abiathar have it? The Text states that David’s visit filled Ahimelech with fear, presumably because he too saw Doeg the Edomite and figured what would happen. Now why wasn’t Abiathar taken with the others? I suggest that Ahimelech foresaw what would happen (Doeg probably took off immediately, and Ahimelech figured he wouldn't have much time), so he deliberately consecrated Abiathar, gave him the ephod, and told him to hide―he probably did it that very day (once the soldiers arrived to arrest Ahimelech and the other 84, it would be too late). Abiathar escaped, but carried the news of the massacre with him; only now he was the high priest.    Putting it all together, it was David’s visit that resulted in Abiathar’s becoming high priest prematurely, as David himself recognized, and to which Jesus alluded in passing (which is why I used parentheses). But why would Jesus allude to that? I suppose because the Bible is straightforward about the consequences of sin, and David lied to Ahimelech. Although Jesus was using David's eating that bread as an example, He did not wish to gloss over the sin, and its consequences.    Recall that Jesus was addressing Pharisees, who were steeped in the OT Scriptures. A notorious case like Saul's massacre of 85 priests would be very well known. And of course, none of the NT had yet been written, so any understanding of what Jesus said had to be based on 1 Samuel (“Have you never read…?”). If we today wish to understand this passage, we need to place ourselves in the context recorded in Mark 2:23-28. The Pharisees would understand that if Abiathar was in possession of the ephod with the Urim and Thummim, then he was the high priest. And how did he get that way? He got that way because of David's visit. It was an immediate consequence of that visit.    Some may object that 'making' is a verb, not a preposition. Well, the 'in the days of' of the AV, etc., though not a verb, is a phrase. Both a pronoun and an adverb may stand for a phrase, and a preposition may as well. TEV and Phillips actually use a verb: ‘when… was’; NLT has ‘during the days when… was’. Where the others used from two to five words, I used only one.     PCF: Just a little comment from me on the this topic. The problem in this verse is very hard to deal with, and I am linking an article here written by Dr. Daniel Wallace to illustrate how hard this is. As I said before, we can’t prove anything because of how vague Greek prepositions are. An added thing to think about is that Jesus could have been speaking in Aramaic, not Greek, because that was the everyday language for him. I am willing to set this aside as a problem we cannot solve for sure. But one thing I hold onto is that God’s Word is true in the Old Testament record, and what Jesus said was also true. It seems more likely to me to conclude that He knew much more than us about it, and various things could have happened like what Pickering posits.   Secondly I think the comment about this verse destroying the faith of a Christian scholar is interesting. If you know who that scholar was, please let me know. My searches on the internet for likely choices failed to turn up the answer. Just the other day my son, David, mentioned how a little thing like this that erodes one’s faith puts a person on a dangerous slippery slope. He told about a fellow graduate of his Christian university who was his friend. But the friend learned things that shook his faith. He ended up as a pastor in an extremely liberal denomination. But now he has left even that and has taken up with Hindus in India, but it is unclear if he really believes what they teach either.    A little thing like the presence of footnotes in our Bibles could be the thing that would cause someone to embark on that slippery downward slope. People will think, “Well, who knows what the apostles really wrote?” This has been a problem with the adoption of the Eclectic Text starting in 1901, which has contributed to liberalism in the church for over a century. Now I ask my listeners, Would your church hire someone as (let’s say) an associate pastor if the person did not believe in the inspiration of the Bible? I think I can hear the answer. My church wouldn’t. If someone interviewed for a job at my church without believing in Jesus or the inspiration of the Bible, the interview would quickly change to my pastor seeking to share the Gospel with that person. So then I ask, Do you think that it would be a good idea to trust a person with beliefs like that to manage the Greek text that is translated for our Bibles? I don’t think so! I recommend an an article I found about the beliefs of Kurt Aland, the one whose name is on the publications of the Nestle-Aland Eclectic Greek Text. It is linked here in the episode notes.      The episode notes for all of the Every Word podcasts will include a Resources section which gives links to articles that will give further documentation about all of my claims about the Majority Text, the Eclectic Text, and about different Bible translations.   All of Dr. Wilbur Pickering’s works are released according to the Creative Commons License and are available at PRUNCH.net. Additionally, his second edition (2016) NT translation is available for a free download via the Kindle app. It is also freely available as a module in the MyBible program for Android and Apple devices.    Dr. Pickering named his NT, “The Sovereign Creator Has Spoken.” That title contains three concepts that were not believed by Wescott and Hort. In their age Darwinism had invaded the church. W&H  did not believe that our Creator created humans as described in Genesis. They did not believe in the sovereignty of God. Nor did they believe that God has actively inspired every word of Scripture and has made sure that every word has been preserved.   Moses and Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but by Every Word of God.” (Deut. 8:3; Luk. 4:4)   May the Lord bless you ‘real good’!   Resources: Fields, Philip: Playing Follow the Leader in Bible Translation, 2019, by Phil Fields. See the Resources list in that article for many more helpful articles on the superiority of the Majority Greek Text.   Friberg, Timothy:  On the text of the Greek New Testament that also happens to be the right one for cousin audiences Although the title of this four-page paper refers to translating for Muslims, the principles and summary is widely applicable.  I suggest reading this paper before reading Friberg’s other articles listed below.   Layman’s Guide — A modest explanation for the layman of ideas related to determining the text of the Greek New Testament, 2019.   What is what? — Differences between the Traditional Text and the Bible Society Text of the Greek New Testament. Some data for the reader to weigh, 2019.   Pickering, Wilbur: New Translation of the New Testament: The Sovereign Creator has Spoken Greek Text of the New Testament based on Family 35   Articles and other major works: See PRUNCH.net. Robinson, Maurice: The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform, 1991, 2005, 2018.  This is available in free digital form in the MyBible Bible app, and in other ways.   Article: Full Text of the 105 verses lacking overall Greek Manuscript Support in the NA edition 27

The OT Scriptures uphold the teaching of predestination.

That there are “gods” and that some of them are fallen spiritual beings is shown in many passages in the OT. We begin surveying those passages and bringing out implications concerning how God runs His universe.

That there are “gods” and that some of them are fallen spiritual beings is shown in many passages in the OT. We begin surveying those passages and bringing out implications concerning how God runs His universe.

In Daniel 10, the curtain is pulled back to show that there are spirit beings that are active behind the scenes. Humans lust for this interaction even though it is harmful. The desire for Babylon without boundaries and direct, tangible interaction with spirits has never gone away. This will not happen until Daniel’s 70th week.

In Daniel 10, the curtain is pulled back to show that there are spirit beings that are active behind the scenes. Humans lust for this interaction even though it is harmful. The desire for Babylon without boundaries and direct, tangible interaction with spirits has never gone away. This will not happen until Daniel's 70th week.

The sign of the covenant relationship between God and the Hebrews has zero impact on salvation. In Romans 4:1-8, Paul states that salvation is by faith apart from works. Verses 9-12 he teaches that it is apart from circumcision (i.e. the sign of the covenant) as well. And as we'll see later, in verses 13-17, Paul says salvation is by faith apart from law. Membership In Abraham's Family is By Faith Paul has established - through the OT Scriptures - that Abraham is the quintessential example of justification by faith. First he cites Genesis 15:6. Then he cites David from Psalm 32:1-2 to describe what this means. Last time we discussed how (in Romans 4:1-8) justification is by faith apart from any consideration of works. Now in verses 9-12, still using Abraham as the example, Paul says justification by faith is apart from any consideration of circumcision. Yes, Abraham is the father of the nation of Israel, physically, by means of being circumcised first. But he is also the father of "spiritual Israel" by means of his faith. Okay, but why the focus on circumcision? The Physical Sign Does Not Equate to Salvation The physical sign of circumcision meant membership in the covenant family of God, yes. But Jews believed also that it equated to salvation. To them, salvation was inherent in the physical sign of circumcision. But this was and is not the case. Paul counters this argument by again referencing Abraham. The Scriptures clearly show Abraham's faith credited as righteousness before he received the sign of circumcision, not after. In fact, 14+ years before. Meaning, Abraham was in fact a Gentile when his faith was credited as righteousness. The Jews have not only misunderstood the covenant sign but have also failed to clearly understand when and how Abraham was saved. This reality makes it clear that faith in God - whether held by Jew or Gentile - is effective unto salvation for both. _______________________________ Study Romans From the Beginning By Clicking Here

“Inspiration: How the OT Scriptures were Compiled” – Speaker is Bernard Burt at the Manitoulin Family Bible Camp 2017

Our After-Easter sermon series picks up on the later part of Luke 24, where the Risen Jesus opened the minds of the disciples to understand the OT Scriptures about himself. Over he next few weeks we will be seeing Jesus in the "Books of Moses". This message lays the foundation for why such a study is important for Christians to undertake.

Our After-Easter sermon series picks up on the later part of Luke 24, where the Risen Jesus opened the minds of the disciples to understand the OT Scriptures about himself. Over he next few weeks we will be seeing Jesus in the "Books of Moses". This message lays the foundation for why such a study is important for Christians to undertake.

This class will unpack the central controversy in the New Testament Scriptures - how one attains to the kingdom and the resurrection. We will dive in the OT Scriptures as well as... [powerpress]

This class will unpack the central controversy in the New Testament Scriptures - how one attains to the kingdom and the resurrection. We will dive in the OT Scriptures as well as... [powerpress]

Paul was actually a brilliant communicator in his own right; his letters have withstood the test of time for over 2,000 years. But he did not rest on his communication (or his knowledge of the OT Scriptures gained in Jerusalem as a younger man). He...

Paul was actually a brilliant communicator in his own right; his letters have withstood the test of time for over 2,000 years. But he did not rest on his communication (or his knowledge of the OT Scriptures gained in Jerusalem as a younger man). He...