Bible Study Seattle

“…in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  1 Timothy 2:3-4 NASB

A better translation is “to come to the complete knowledge of the truth.”

Isn’t that wonderful?  God wants everyone to know the full truth.  That way, those who reject the truth (and salvation) are completely without excuse.  As it is now, no one has a complete knowledge of the truth.  But Paul speaks of a day: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”  1 Corinthians 13:12

“As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”  Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.  Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.  Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.”  Mark 1:16-20

The first time you read this, it appears that Jesus just walks by and commands strangers to follow him like 60s groupies.  Of course, that’s not quite what happened.  We don’t have much context, but this appears to happen right after Joh the baptist is put in jail.  It’s very likely that these four were disciples of Joh the baptist.  John told all the people that he was merely preparing the way for one greater than him, whose sandals he was undfit to tie.  When Simon, Andrew, James, and John left there nets, it was probably just before the feast of Tabernacles.  Jesus may have already talked to their father about them following him.  After all, Jesus upheld the commandment to honor ones’ parents.  It is inconceivable that Jesus would have disciples abandon their parents.  Leaving for a set purpose is one thing, abandoning is another.

The other impression one can get is that the disciples didn’t work.  Not so.  There are many instances when they’re in a boat.  Could they be fishing?

“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.”