Various Posts from the 2013 GCC Bible Reading

This last year, some of us read through the whole Bible in an online community setting. Unfortunately, not too many people participated on Faithlife as I had hoped. But we did have some good discussion, and I'm putting most of it on here so it won't get lost. Here's several questions and observations that I initiated:

Luke: "What do you think the phrase referring to Enoch "and he was not" means?"

>Ryan: "As near as I can tell, looks like that phrase is implied from the Hebrew word "Laqach," which means, basically, "to take." That word is translated "taken" in 2 Kings 2:10, right before Elijah is miraculously taken up in the flaming chariot. In Heb. 11:5, Paul makes clear that Enoch also had a similar experience. So, I think "he was not" likely means what Hebrews 11 shows – that Enoch "was not found" among the living."

>Mike: "I think Brother Ryan answered well. Dispensationalists use this as an example of what they believe will happen on a mass scale at the rapture--millions of Christians will simply go missing. Others will be left behind."

Luke: "The phrase "called their name Adam" is interesting as it states the equality of the man and woman. He was Adam and she was Adam. Only after the Fall did the woman receive a separate name. It reflects in a way the Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not three Gods but one God, distinct persons but equal in substance, power, and glory. Likewise the man and woman are not two Adams but one Adam, distinct in roles but equal in the image of God. (Genesis 5:2)"

Luke: "In a Christian World History Book, I've read that the rise of Islam was a fulfillment of God's promise to Hagar concerning Ishmael becoming a great nation. (Genesis 21:18) Do you think they have something there or are they too speculative in their interpretation?"

>Mike: "I believe the existence of a large number of Turks, as an ethnic group, is a fulfillment of this promise, but that the promise did not include their religion being a Christ-hating, vicious belief system. Good question!"

>Luke: "That makes sense. I lean towards their view since Islam and Judaism are alike in that they think they can work their way to heaven through the law. Paul said in Galatians that people who think like that are children of Hagar and people of Mount Sinai. Also Islam is somewhat a caricature of Christianity, reflecting the mockery of Ishmael that got him and Hagar kicked out of the family."

Luke: ""Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life." (Genesis 45:5) "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations." (Ezekiel 36:25) How would these verses fit together? How do we not be angry nor grieved with ourselves yet loathe ourselves for our sin?"

>Mike: "I think the answer lies, at least in part, in the fact that there are different kinds of sorrow. Paul said, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” 2Co 7:10. We are to have the former and shun the latter. Joseph did not want his brothers sorrowing in a destructive way. His observation about the sovereignty of God was designed, I believe, to point them toward "godly sorrow.""

Luke: "I noticed that Leviticus 26 basically mirrors Deuteronomy 28; and that what seems to be the first appearance of the promise in scripture: "And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people." (Lev 26:12)"

Luke: ""There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." (Joshua 1:5) "There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass." (Joshua 21:45) "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." (2 Timothy 1:12)"

Luke: "Faithlife Study Bible: "God’s commandments and statutes were not aimed at restricting Israel’s prosperity and joy in the land, but at magnifying it." (Deut 10:13)"

Luke: "(Judges 20:18) Even though Israel was diverted towards one guilty party by the lie of the Levite who murdered his wife, God was still willing to lead His people into battle even in the midst of moral relativism."

>Mike: "I also noticed what might be a lesson here for us as we fight our spiritual enemies. Israel was in the right, yet Benjamin won the first two fights. After the continued proper use of means--fasting, praying, liers in wait--the Lord gave them victory. Let us not be discouraged if we are overcome in the first (or even the second) battle."

Luke: "(1 Chronicles 4:9-10) Jabez (Named the man who will cause pain) had low expectations from his mother and perhaps from the community, probably because of his ungodly brothers. Jabez, understanding his weakness, prayed unto God that He would bless his life with joy and He did. Jabez ended up more honorable than his brothers and thus overcame by the grace of God the negative, low expectations of his mother. It is an example that we should not be discouraged by the circumstances and expectations that bring us down but we should trust God and pray that He would bless our work and example to prosper in His Kingdom."

>Mike: "Thank you, Luke, for reminding us that our genes, though important, do not determine our future. God often delights in exalting him of low degree!"

Luke: "(Psalm 28:1) If God is silent to us, we dive into despair and lawlessness. Therefore we must place ourselves before the word of God regularly and pray fervently."

Luke: "What makes David's Psalm 131 different from the Pharisee's prayer in Luke 18 other than inspiration?"

>Mike: "The spirit of the two prayers seems to be quite different. David's prayer seems full of humility and submission to God. The Pharisee's prayer, on the other hand, compares himself with other men in a prideful manner. May the Lord bless us to emulate David!"

Luke: "Christ has defeated His enemies and ended our war on the cross. Where we have sinned, Grace has more abounded and we have more than we deserve. (Isaiah 40:2)"

Luke: "Just as God will never flood the world as He did in Noah's day, He will never be angry and speak ill of us if we are in Christ. Isaiah 54:8-10"

Luke: "Jeremiah prophesied that the ark of the covenant would not be remembered in the Messianic Age. What does that mean for us today? Jeremiah 3:16"

>Mike: "Great question, Brother Luke! Sounds like there might be a "better covenant" that would take its place, right? Let us rejoice that it has done so!"

Luke: "The sin of Judah was recorded with austerity and promised judgment. Jeremiah 17:1-4 God pronounced His curse on those who trusted in military and economic power. (Jeremiah 17:5-6) On the other hand, God gave His blessing on those who trusted in Him and made God their hope. Their blessing was identical to the blessing in Psalm 1. They were promised to be preserved through the affliction and trials abounding in fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)"

Luke: "What do you think the temple in Ezekiel is? Is it the post-exile or the heavenly?"

>Mike: "I suspect it is an idealized description of the post-exilic temple designed to impress upon Israel that the ideal would never be built with human hands. That would require the coming of the Messiah, who would build the ultimate temple."

Luke: "(John 3:19-21) Jesus is the light of the world. Those who live in sin hate the light because their deeds are shown to be evil. Those who follow Christ sincerely love the light because their deeds are shown to be by the working of God. Let us live by the inspection of the word of God, and not fear the light of His holiness."

Luke: ""In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:1, 1:14 "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." John 8:58 "I and my Father are one...The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." John 10:30, 10:33 "And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." John 20:28-29 The Apostle John clearly believed that Jesus is God in the flesh. If his testimony is true, (John 19:35) then Jesus also believes that He Himself is God the Son. Can we trust John's record of Christ?"

Luke: ""Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you." (2 Corinthians 4:10-12) In our death to ourselves and sin, the life of the Lord Jesus to God is displayed in our earthly vessels to life in the holy catholic Church (and her local churches.)"

Luke: "(1 Peter 4:4) It should not be a surprise that the nations round about us think that it's weird that we don't follow alongside them in the pursuit of shallow pleasure; and that they mock us for it. Therefore let us follow the example of Christ and pursue joyfully the will of God."

Luke: ""For there ARE certain men CREPT in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (Jude 4 emphasis mine) "But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts." (Jude 17-18) Scripture says that the Great Apostasy in the last days was happening in Jude's day. Being so, This puts the Great Apostasy spoken of in 2 Timothy 3 and 2 Peter 3 to the end of the Mosaic Age, not the end of the church age."

>Mike: "I agree with your assessment: most references in the New Testament to impending judgment refer to the events surrounding the destruction of the Temple and Jewish nation. Jesus said the great tribulation would occur before his generation expired (Matthew 24:21, 34). The apostle John said he was already in "the tribulation" (Revelation 1:9, ESV) and that the saints of his day knew they were living in the "last hour" (1 John 2:18, ESV) because many antichrists had already appeared. The great apostasy with which they were associated had already begun. The good news is that these events marked the termination of the Mosaic age and the full and inauguration of the glorious Messianic age. We rejoice in the increase of the Messiah's government until, finally, all his enemies have been made his footstool (Psalm 110). The last enemy to be destroyed will be death itself in the bodily resurrection of the saints (1 Corinthians 15). Hallelujah!"