Bible Study Seattle

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”  Matthew 7:1

This may be the rally cry of the live and let live crowd.  The idea is that everyone’s morality is their own private business.  But by definition, morality affects other people.  If a bunch of pedophiles ruin kids’ lives privately, will that not have public consequences?  Do peoples’ character change just because they go from the private sphere to the public one?  Can a leopard change its spots?  Compare the above verse to:

“Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?”  1 Corinthians 6:2

So which is it?  Judge or not judge?  Isn’t the scripture contradicting itself?  Here’s another:

“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”  John 7:24

Aha!  Its about the quality of our judgment.  Don’t we judge all the time people, whether we can trust them?  Or whether we should hire them?  God has already told us what is right and wrong:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before Me.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.  You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

“You shall not murder.

“You shall not commit adultery.

“You shall not steal.

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”  Exodus 20:2-17

“While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.  Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”  Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  Matthew 12:46-50

It appears here that Jesus is being rude to his mother.  But the clue is in his reply.  Apparently, his mother and brothers were coming to set him right on what the messiah was supposed to do.  He was supposed to conquer the Romans and restore Israel.  Jesus was correcting that thought with his real mission of sacrifice first.

This is a great discussion of the order of things during passion week:

In a bible study, the question was raised, “Would Jesus ever treat people this way?”  The study was on Joseph.  It was observed that much of Joseph’s early struggles pictured Jesus’ first advent.  It was then noted that perhaps Joseph’s reign under Pharoah is a picture of Jesus’ second advent.  It was noted how apparently mean Joseph was to his brothers.  Would Jesus ever treat the Jews that way?  This made some uncomfortable.  So much so, that someone complained, “You’re reading too much into the text.”

Even more extreme is this scene in Revelation:

“ I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.  His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.  The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army.  But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.”  Revelation 19:11-21

Will Jesus actually kill people?  This passage must be symbolic, no?  Not my Jesus, meek and mild!  But what if he does?  How many will reject him, because that’s not the Jesus they believe in?  Wasn’t it the same the first time around?  Jesus didn’t do what people expected, even his own family and disciples!  But we trust God, that he knows what he’s doing.

Why did Jesus not immediately ascend to the Father when he was raised from the dead?

“After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.  On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  Acts 1:3-5

He appeared many times in many ways to the disciples to bolster their faith.  He was apparently able to appear in a real human body, but then disappear at will, and appear in another place.  Will it be that way with the saints?  Even though they are resurrected to a spiritual level, they can still appear in real human bodies.  Then the holy spirit was given in power on Pentecost.  Peter quotes Joel:

“In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
    and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Acts 2:17-21

Pentecost was only a partial fulfillment of this.  Being 50 days from the resurrection speaks of Jubilee.  It seems that the large fulfillment of Joel will be at and after Armageddon, which is right before Atonement, which begins the grand Jubilee.  Is it possible that Christians will not ascend to the Father until just before Atonement?  Will they have supernatural powers appearing on earth in human form in different places and times?

The intimacy between YHWH and his only-begotten son is extreme.  So extreme that many confuse them as the same person.  In verses like this:  “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.”  John 14:10  Reminds me of:

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”  Genesis 2:24

If they become one flesh, does that mean they are the same person?  Did I become my wife the day I married her?  No.

The Greek word ‘logos’ appears about 300 times in the new testament, not just John 1:1.  Here’s a great discussion about logos:

The other day, I saw a lady with a John 3:16 tattoo.  But you’ll probably never see a Leviticus 19:28 tattoo:

“‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.”

“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”  Numbers 13:30

Caleb and Joshua were the only two spies out of twelve that trusted God that the Israelites could take Caanan.  They were aptly rewarded for their faith:

“But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it.”  Numbers 14:24

Interestingly enough, Joshua son Nun means Yahweh our savior and Caleb means ‘dog’.  Gentiles were referred to as ‘dogs’.

“And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”  Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.”  Matthew 15:26-28

This shows us that even Gentiles will inherit the promised land.

If you do a search on David in the bible, some interesting things come out.

“But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.”  Jeremiah 30:9

“Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.”  Ezekiel 34:23

““My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.”  Ezekiel 37:24

“Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.”  Hosea 3:5

All these prophecies were written after David was dead!  Clearly God plans to raise him from the dead.  But besides the fact that he will be prince among the Israelites, a battle occurs:

“The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel.

Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.  It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.  In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will strike every horse with bewilderment and his rider with madness. But I will watch over the house of Judah, while I strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.  Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘A strong support for us are the inhabitants of Jerusalem through the Lord of hosts, their God.’

“In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem.  The Lord also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah.  In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them.  And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”  Zechariah 12:1-9

If the Antichrist is leading the battle against Jerusalem, it would appear that David is leading the ranks of Israel in opposition!  And wouldn’t that be fitting?  With all his immense war experience and cunning, he’s very cut out for the job.  Just as Moses spent forty years in the wilderness before he lead the Israelites there.