Subtleties, Hidden Meanings And Misrepresented Biblical Phrases
Posted: Wednesday, October 24, 2007
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
Never think that the title infers that we will cover all of such phrases, only a few. These mentioned items are numerous and it is my firm belief that some were placed there in order to get the followers of Christ to do intense study and research to find the true meanings underneath them all. We have many admonitions to study and meditate upon God's words. Part of it is called a mystery by the writers themselves. Many of the prophecies contained in the Old Testament were a mystery until the advent of Jesus Christ whose birth, life, doctrine, death and resurrection clarified them. It was this fact that caused so many of the Jewish people to reject Him. They were avid readers of the Law and the Prophets but the subtle prophecies often left them expecting something that they did not explain.
One subtle scripture is in Moses' beginning of the Bible where he so matter-of-factly started the Bible. He said without hesitation or explanation, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
(Genesis 1:1) He gave no explanation as to who God was or how he came to be available to undertake such a chore. It was a given. He had no question about it and those who were living then had no questions about it. There are later scriptures that explain who He is but Moses, through inspiration, deemed it unnecessary to explain it at this time. This is only one of the places where it shows necessity that one must study.
Many of the prophecies in the Old Testament and the Revelation in the New Testament are very subtle or even obscure as Paul is explaining in the Roman letter above. One of many similar ones can be found in Isaiah 16:5 . And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
It is easy to see where the Jews would be expecting a messiah which would come and literally re-establish David's throne and rule upon it. They had no way of knowing at this time that the prophecy meant that He would establish a spiritual kingdom and reign over it until the judgement day. And in fact, they were so thoroughly convinced of a literal kingdom that they could not understand and believe that Jesus was that messiah. Even Jesus' Apostles did not know that he would not have an earthly kingdom actually until they received the promised inspiration of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost after his resurrection. Even though he had mentioned it to them and plainly told Pilate in John 18:36 which says: "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."
He told his disciples of his kingdom plans in Matthew 16:13-19: "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
After we have read and know what happened we can readily see what His conversation was all about. His spiritual Kingdom was established as mentioned above and is described through the 2 nd chapter of Acts.
And there are verses which people have heard explained many times but wrongly. One that comes to mind is in the scourging that the Roman soldiers administered often to those accused of some wrongdoing. You will hear often of some being beaten with 40 stripes save 1 and this was done with a whip that had 9 thongs on it with metal or bone pieces tied to the end of each thong. And it is told that they administered 39 strokes withholding one in case of a miscount. Pirates may have used "cat o' nine tails" whips for their beatings but it is not true of the Romans. Their law specified that one could not be administered more than 40 stripes, not strokes. Plus their instrument was a stick with three thongs on it, sometimes with metal pieces on them but sometimes not. And the reason they stopped with 39 stripes, was that 13 strokes would give them 39 stripes and 14 strokes would have exceeded the lawful amount. It is highly likely that 39 licks with a cat o' nine tails with metal or bones tied on them would kill most men.
And Christmas lore is possibly 80% or more fiction. First, there is no evidence whatsoever that December 25 is anywhere near the true birth date of Jesus. It was named that date to pacify pagans who were being converted to Christianity but still wanted to celebrate the return of the new sun. The Romans called it Saturnalia in honor of Saturn. Northern Europe pagans called it Yule, celebrating their Sun God, Mithras' birth. And even the events placed with it under the present holiday called Christmas, are mythical or fictitious. The manger scenes that people erect, paint and imagine are almost completely unbiblical. They almost always portray 3 wise men at the scene worshipping the newborn which is incorrect. The Bible nowhere says there were three wise men who went seeking Him, even though you may ask almost anyone how many went and they will answer three. And most of all, they didn't go visit Him at His birthplace. There were shepherds "in the same country" abiding with their sheep" (Luke 2:8-16) who went to see Him, but the wise men came from the east, indicating a long distance.( Matthew 2:1) Some scholars think that it may have been a year or more before they found Him. But of a certainty not that night.
These are only a sprinkling of things we all need to study about. As I said before, there are numerous scriptures which admonish us to study, in both the Old and New Testaments. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says : "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
And Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."
And in the New Testament you have several very plain ones. Matthew 11:29 "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
2 Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
And finally: 2 Peter 1:5 "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;"
As I say in many of my articles, One cannot obey God if they do not know what he says. Let's not be like those mentioned in the verse from Hosea. Our eternal destiny is far too important for us to ignore the teachings of Jesus Christ.
Footnote: All scripture references are from the King James Version
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