Which Bible Is Right For You?

Posted on March 31, 2021 by Jayce Ran

I often here people discussing the different versions of the Bible. They argue for which one is better and why one is not as good. So, let me tell you everything you need to know about your Bible and why it is flawed. Lol just kidding. This is actually a personal question with a personal answer.

So in my Bible Studies I stick to the KJV, ESV, and the NASB. KJV is the King James Version, ESV is the English Standard Version, and the NASB is the New American Standard Bible. I find these Bibles are more familiar among the people. When I write it I hope you are looking through your Bible with my study. Although I provide the text in some form or another, you should be searching your scriptures daily to prove what I say true, or WRONG. I am human I can be wrong. Anyone can be wrong. So do not trust someone with the word of God.

THAT MEANS THE BIBLE YOU ARE READING CAN BE FLAWD! That is right. You must do your do diligence and search the many different scriptures available to you to find the truth. I suggest using sites like BibleHub.com to see many many different scriptures laid out for each verse of the Bible so you can research what is true.

Often times there is errors in the translation of the Bible or old word means something different today. The concepts can become confused. The overall truth of the Bible is true though you may have to search a little to find the answers.

The next thing to point out is even if the translation is perfect. The idea may be lost to time. Sometimes the Bible can be especially confusing if you do not understand the culture. People are different than they used to be. Customs change over time and trust me, 6000 years is a long time for things to change.

So in conclusion what Bible is right for you? Not any of them. You must use what scriptures are availed to you to discern what is true and untrue. I suggest having the package I did above, KJV, ESV, and NASB. If you have those three generally you can have an answer. It also help to have a Strong’s Concordance with a Hebrew and Greek Lexicon. I am telling you if you have those it is so powerful to your understanding. It also helps to have some books of history as well.

Below is a list of Bible resources that are readily available Also buying one will help me out running this site.

KJV Study Bible: https://amzn.to/2QPrPix
ESV Study Bible: https://amzn.to/39vpRdS
NASB Study Bible: https://amzn.to/39yCncm

Strong’s And Vines Concordance: https://amzn.to/3dp9OPW

Rose’s Bible Maps And Charts: https://amzn.to/3rGD61v

I hope you found this little bit of information to be helpful to you. One of the things most important to remember is if you are reading the Bible, and you are doing your best to live those words. Your on the right track. God knows your heart. He will lead you. God bless and have a wonderful day.

Bible Study, Ecclesial Studies, Luke

Bible Study: Luke Chapter 4

Posted on December 4, 2019December 13, 2019 by Jayce Ran

For a complete list of all my Bible Studies click the button below.

Bible Studies Table Of Contents

If you have not read the previous chapter you may want to read that one first. Click the button below to be taken to the previous chapter.

Previous Chapter

This chapter may be slightly inflammatory to modern Christians. I believe the topics talked about in this chapter apply heavily to the modern church and how out of line it has become with God. So, before we proceed I suggest praying for an open mind so that you can see these truths for what they are. This is not a message of going out and tearing down the “system” this is simply pointing out a laceration in the body. We have a wound we need to heal from.

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
²Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Luke 4:1-2 KJV

A lot of people think not eating for forty days is impossible. This is not the case. You can go very long periods without eating. An obese person can literally go months without eating. There was one case where an obese man lost over 300 pounds by abstaining from eating for about a year. However, for Jesus most likely this would have been a struggle. A person of a healthy weight after forty days of fasting would be seriously in need of nourishment medically.

There are many references to the number forty. Forty years in the desert for the Jews. Moses on the mountain for forty days. Elijah’s flight from Jezebel lasted forty days. Gods warning to Nineveh was that in forty days they would be destroyed. Forty days and nights of judgement on the world, in Genesis. The number forty appears many times, 146 times to be exact. Forty is a symbol of chastisement or humility. God uses it as a fitting way to spur on change in someone. If God put man through such a thing, God for some reason felt the need to experience it himself. Instead however he did the ultimate form. A desert, with no food, for a full forty days alone.

Not only that but the devil himself tempts Jesus the entire time.

³And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
Luke 4:3 KJV

I want to point out Satan’s strategies for temptation here. He is using a carnal desire and need in order to get a hold on Jesus. Now, Jesus performs miracles but not for himself. He does it in service of others. His life was about service. In his struggles and everything he did was a lesson for us to learn from. Breaking his fast would have been a breaking of his trial. He set upon himself that for forty days he would go without food.

⁴And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Luke 4:4 KJV

Jesus responds with scripture. Showing us that we can find strength in the word of the Lord. Fitting as that is exactly what this verse is about. We need the word of God as much if not more than our need for food. Jesus was preparing a lesson for us. More so making the devil’s actions a service to God. In case you were wondering the verse is from Deuteronomy.

³And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
Deuteronomy 8:3 KJV

So, if the word is food, how much more should we study it? After all it is our sword against the devils and their forces.

⁵And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luke 4:5 KJV

Here is something that we need to break down. The devil, a fallen angel, took Jesus onto a high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, in a moment of time. What kind of high mountain stands outside of time?

What I am about to suggest may sound preposterous to you at first. Satan took Jesus outside of the reaches of time and perhaps even our world and into the heavenly realms to display the world to him. This was something supernatural. As we know now that time is a physical dimension the only way possible for this to happen would be to go physically beyond time. This means Satan has this ability even in his fallen state.

To further so you understand, Satan shows Jesus all the nations of the world in a single moment. Something supernatural is occurring.

⁶And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
⁷If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
Luke 4:6-7 KJV

What Satan is claiming here is that he has ownership of the Kingdoms of the world. Not only that but control of their power and furthermore their glory as well. Is this the devil lying? How is it a temptation if you know someone is lying? This should disturb you.

Satan is the god of this world. I will say it again. Satan is the god of this world. I can back this statement with scripture.

⁴In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV

Now you are probably thinking where is Satan here. Notice the word god is a little g and not a big ol capitol G. This is because this god is a lesser god, Satan who currently has right to this world by the power of sin. This rebellion of Satan’s happened sometime in the past, most likely between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.

Satan has a claim over the world and the people who are in it. This is the whole reason for the need of Jesus. God is reclaiming ownership. My life’s work has been to solve this puzzle. I will continue to figure things out but I want to understand how Satan gained ownership of man through his sin. Somehow Adam and Eve was adopted by Satan when sin entered the world. At the same time sin gave him claim over everything on earth.

So this is not an idle promise. If Jesus would have bowed before Satan, he would have given him everything but of course Satan would be the big G and the true God, YHVH would be the little g.

More so I want to point out, every single time you sin it is an act of worship. It is an act of worshiping Satan. Those who are true Lucifarians understand this and they don’t care how you sin, they just care that you sin. They take pleasure in you worshiping Satan because it makes you lesser. Even more so they delight in Christian’s sinning.

Satan delights in this because we are made in the image of God. So what he sees is God worshiping him. It is very sick and twisted when you can see if for what it is.

⁸And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Luke 4:8 KJV

Once again Jesus goes to scripture.

¹³Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Deuteronomy 6:13 KJV

Which we should indeed too because he is worthy of his worship. There is no more kind and loving being in existence than God. He is our valorous defender, our Father, and creator.

Now if you are familiar with Matthew, you will recognize this is out of order, or Matthew was. None the less these events happened and these are recounting of them.

⁹And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
Luke 4:9 KJV

So once again we see them move to another location. Perhaps supernaturally. I am going to suggest that but watch what Satan does. He is getting wise to Jesus and knows he knows scripture so what does he do?

¹⁰For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
¹¹And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Luke 4:10-11 KJV

This here is another tool of Satan. To misquote scripture. He employs this tool time and time again. This is how he did it in Eden. If not for Adam’s failure to stick with scripture alone, Eve might not have fell for it. Instead Adam added to what God said. He told her do not even touch it. Satan used that to his advantage. She touched it and was fine. Then by proving Adam wrong he proved God wrong as Adam was witnessing God to her. This is important. Do not add to scripture!

How often do we see wolves standing at the pulpits of our churches preaching a message contrary to God. They carry their bibles and wield them like guns. People however, enjoy those liars who are only in it to line their pockets. They preach prosperity on earth above that of heaven. That God will save you from your recklessness. That we sin every day and you are forgiven regardless of need of repentance. That abortions are good before the Lord. That worshiping angels and other gods is fine. Tolerance for contacting spirits and talking with ghosts (demons). They too will be cut down and cast into the fires as well. Be vigilant against these kinds of people. Do not worship with them or eat with them. Teach them with gentleness but if they refuse to rebuke their false teachings and actions, give them over to their father, Satan. They have no place among the body.

¹¹For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
¹²They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Psalm 91:11-12 KJV

This is the proper quotation. Instead Satan skips the part about keeping people in God’s ways. He changes the scripture from being a metaphoric lesson to a physical interaction.

¹²And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Luke 4:12 KJV

Once again Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy.

¹⁶Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Deuteronomy 6:16 KJV

There is only one time we can tempt God. That is in obedience to him. If we go above and beyond to be in obedience to him he will reward us. He challenges us in this. So do not fear doing the lords work. He will bless you and keep you. Just make sure your doing his work.

¹³And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Luke 4:13 KJV

Ultimately Satan gives up. Satan’s weapon of choice is temptation. He prefers this. It is his plan A. His plan B however is violence. Remember this in your own life. When you resist the devil he will send others to do his work for him. Lucky for us we have the big man upstairs looking out for us. If you resist him, he will eventually leave. His demons, and the other devils do the same as well. Although their strategies vary slightly.

¹⁴And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
¹⁵And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
Luke 4:14-15 KJV

This statement is a bit odd. Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit. The power of the Spirit, is Jesus letting us know through Luke there is a special blessing for those who resist temptation? I think there is some spiritual power gained from doing such things.

¹⁶And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Luke 4:16 KJV

Notice Luke makes a point of the custom being his. This custom has existed for a long long time that people read on the sabbath but it was Jesus’s custom. So that tells us Jesus was once again preexisted before his birth.

¹⁷And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luke 4:17 KJV

You will notice in scripture this quote is going to be a little different because this is being quoted from the Septuagint bible.

¹⁸The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
¹⁹To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luke 4:18-19 KJV

The scripture quoted here is from Isaiah 61, verse 1 and part of verse 2. He however does not complete verse 2. Let’s take a look at the whole of these verses first.

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
²To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Isaiah 61:1-2 KJV

Now Jewish scholars at the time recognized this was God speaking of the messiah. Jesus reading these words was his statement to them that he was indeed the messiah.

I want to make a point of what Jesus stopped at the first comma. This was the extent of his mission. The second coming of Christ will be the day of vengeance and he will comfort all that mourn.

And that day is coming shortly.

²⁰And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
²¹And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Luke 4:20-21 KJV

In their churches the minister would sit down. So Jesus taking the seat is him boldly saying he is minister. Jesus then tells them that scripture is fulfilled, that he indeed is the anointed messiah. That the true Jubilee had arrived when all slaves and all debts would be forgiven because our sins would be forgiven.

²²And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
Luke 4:22 KJV

You can imagine people were skeptical. The fact they brought up that he was the son of Joseph means they were saying Mary was not a virgin. That he was not divinely conceived and was not the Christ.

²³And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
²⁴And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luke 4:23-24 KJV

We don’t get the privilege of knowing what people were saying. However, clearly they were saying something was wrong with Jesus and they were also asking him to perform miracles before them. The proverb Jesus gives them is like saying, You should fix yourself before you try fixing other people. Basically saying they did not believe Jesus at all unless he performed some miracle before them.

Jesus refuses, he is not some street performer. He has a mission. This goes to Jesus’s credit. He did not perform miracles for the sake of credibility. He did it because a genuine need was to be filled.

²⁵But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
²⁶But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
Luke 4:25-26 KJV

Jesus is referring to something that happened in Kings. God shut up the rain. Heaven in this since is the first heaven, the sky. The second heaven is the celestial realm which is space and the third is The Heaven where God dwells. Just making that clear but let’s read the actual thing Jesus is talking about so we are as familiar as they are.

⁷And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
⁸And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,
⁹Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
¹⁰So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
¹¹And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
¹²And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.
¹³And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
¹⁴For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
¹⁵And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
¹⁶And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
1 Kings 17:7-16 KJV

So here we have Elijah the prophet being helped by a widow who is taking care of her son. She had little food, so little in fact, she was waiting death. Such a desperate situation to be in. However, Elijah tells her not to fear, and they end up surviving on a little food. It was as if God had duplicated it somehow.

²⁷And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Luke 4:27 KJV

So what is Jesus talking about here? This part is in 2 Kings 5.

5 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.
²And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
³And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
⁴And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
⁵And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
⁶And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
⁷And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
⁸And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
⁹So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
¹¹But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
¹³And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
¹⁴Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
¹⁵And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
¹⁶But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.
¹⁷And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord.
¹⁸In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing.
¹⁹And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
2 Kings 5:1-19 KJV

I apologies for having you read almost another whole chapter. You can see that Naaman the Syrian was healed. However the Jewish people refused to heal him. Granted they were worried of this being a false pretext and out of safety it was done. Elijah though serving God helped him.

²⁸And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
²⁹And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luke 4:28-29 KJV

So what made them so mad? Both people helped in this were gentiles. How could the Messiah side with gentiles! This is Jesus showing that God does everything according to his own will and not the will of what people want God to be. The Jewish community had an image of the Messiah. He would be a warrior coming to slaughter all the gentiles and what gentiles remained would be servant and slave to Israel so that they no longer had to toil. They would rule the world as supreme lords for the sake of their bloodline.

The idea of the gentiles being anything to God other than a people to be conquered was set in their minds. It was impossible. This is why they were angry. God’s plan did not fit into their little box.

More so they wanted to kill Jesus right there. However, Jesus chose not to die that day, as King of creation he ensured it. I have a feeling most in the church today would reject Jesus. For other reasons. It is rather the other way around. Today we would say our actions are justified you paid the price for our sins so it is ok to sin now. Sick sick people. Forgiveness goes beyond words.

³⁰But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
³¹And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
³²And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
Luke 4:30-32 KJV

His words were with power. I am going to suggest this was against the Pharisees. Astonishment has two meanings. One being something similar to amazement. Another though is to be fearful or in terror. The Pharisees liked to use scripture to keep people in bondage and make themselves look above the rest. In their pride and arrogance they accepted outside scriptures commonly and quoted other people on the same level as the Torah and the prophets. They were spiritually sick.

So when Jesus came in speaking the true word of the Lord people loved it. They were not “Goyim” but loved people of God. Jesus did a lot of work undoing the evil slanderous things the Pharisees did. Instead of bringing glory to God they used his name to intimidate others.

Likewise what people have done to Jesus in a lot of ways. Get out of hell free card or your all going to hell card. Either way it is wrong. Accept Christ as your King and his sacrifice, love God AND repent of your sins. That is the only message the church needs to be giving. If you love God and live as though Christ is your King all other things will fall into place and you will repent of your sins naturally. We do these things out of love not chains.

³³And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
Luke 4:33 KJV

So this is possession. Demonic possession. I am going to point out something controversial here. There is a difference between a demon and a devil. This translation is wrong. Devil is diabolos (διάβολος) this is a fallen angel. A demon, daimoniou (δαιμονίου) is an evil spirit. There is not just one devil, The devil is Lucifer or Satan. Other devils are just fallen angels. So what are demons? Demons are the spirits of nephalim. They are angel human hybrids, who posses a different kind of spirit than a human spirit. They suffer the curse of the fallen angels. They are not direct creations of God. These beings once had bodies. However, when they died they were “earthbound” cursed to wander the earth. This is why demons seek embodiment. They no longer have bodies of their own. Most demons are pretty much insane with anger and rage due to their extensive existence.

Once they enter a person they try and act out their desires in through that person. Anyways lets continue.

³⁴Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
Luke 4:34 KJV

The demons recognized who he was. I at first considered that the demons must have been told by Satan about him. However, this cannot be the case because they would have avoided coming across Jesus. Instead they must have a spiritual sight and see exactly who stands before them. None other than the King of creation. They know that Jesus is powerful enough to destroy them. Which gives the question? Why would Satan bother to tempt Jesus? Satan for some reason felt secure enough that Jesus would not just zap him to Tarterus.

Also notice, the man was possessed with one demon, however these ones are plural. That means there is more than one demon in him. This happens when demons are resisted. They gather more demons and gang up on someone.

³⁵And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.
Luke 4:35 KJV

I find it interesting that Jesus let the demons go. Instead of destroying them. Then again his time to do war is coming and it was not at this time he would do so.

³⁶And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
Luke 4:36 KJV

This would shock people because up until this point people could not cast out demons without special ritual. Some of which are not of God. I like to point this out to anyone practicing magick, a demon will be your friend for a lifetime if you will be their slave for an eternity. We are not to contact spirits of any kind. We are not seek out ghosts. We are not to go into the waters unknown. The deep is not for a man. Nor are outer rooms or night winds. Stay in Christ, seek only audience with God himself.

³⁷And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.
³⁸And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.
³⁹And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
Luke 4:37-39 KJV

I want you to notice how he rebuked the fever. You can’t rebuke blindness. But you can rebuke a fever. Why is that? Well, a fever is nothing more than a bunch of little critters in you causing you to be sick. This would not have been anything anyone would consider at this time. Microbiology is a recent discovery. Yet, it is detailed that Jesus rebuked those little buggers and they left the person. Pay close attention and little details like that will blow your mind.

⁴⁰Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
Luke 4:40 KJV

He spent the whole day healing people. Not charging them a cent either. Any minister telling you that you need to pay an offering for healing is a scam artist. Healing from heaven is not for sale. It is a free gift given by God alone.

⁴¹And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.
Luke 4:41 KJV

Once again we see the demons crying out calling him Lord. It is not enough to recognize the King to be saved by him. You must repent of your sins for salvation. Another note. Each time they do this Jesus shuts them up. For some reason he does not want them to proclaim that.

⁴²And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.
Luke 4:42 KJV

So basically people were pleading with Jesus that he stay with them after seeing all his miracles and hearing his teachings.

⁴³And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.
⁴⁴And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.
Luke 4:43-44 KJV

Basically Jesus tells them, I know you want me to stay but really I got to go preach the message to the rest of the world. Thank God he did. I bet I would have been one of those people though asking God to stay. Can you imagine having audience with Jesus? I got good news! You do! Christ is with us always and for those of you who is a Christian his Holy Spirit is upon us. Praise the Lord and have a great day, go spread the good news with someone.

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Bible Study, Ecclesial Studies, Luke

Bible Study: Luke Chapter 3

Posted on December 3, 2019December 13, 2019 by Jayce Ran

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Welcome back to the Bible Study, remember to stay in prayer when reading the Bible and to give praise to God for providing his word and his son. Alright let us begin.

1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
Luke 3:1 KJV

We are immediately given a time table to look at. At the time of these letters everyone would have known when this time period was. Kind of like if you were to say today during the time of Bill Clinton as president or the time of Trump as President. So, this is for context to put it into a more concrete date it was 29 AD, once again don’t let that bother you. The dates set BC and AD while meaning before Christ and after death, are not exact dates. He was not born and died in the same day. So obviously as a system there is going to be an overlap of dates.

This would make Jesus roughly about 30 years old give or take a few years. Once again we do not have the privileges of the exact dates of his birth.

²Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
Luke 3:2 KJV

We need to stop here. The Temple has only one high priest. We have a real issue with this line. It is saying that there is two. First is Annas who was deposed of his position by the Roman empire. They installed Caiaphas, in doing so the Jewish people did not accept him as their high priest. This was a point of contention between the Jewish people and the Roman empire.

Now John instead of spending his formative years at the Temple like most priests he spent it out in the wilderness once again mirroring the prophet Elijah.

³And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
Luke 3:3 KJV

Notice that he spent his time in the countryside, not inside the cities. I believe his message was utterly hated by the Temple priests. The concept of a Jew needing to repent of sins was anathema to their sensibilities. After all, all Jews are good regardless of what they do. After all they are God’s chosen people. This was the view of the time by many of the Jewish leaders. It is this attitude that kept them in captivity and outside of God’s favor. However, God in his mercy sent them prophets like John in order to bring them back to him.

I want you to be sensitive to an idea. This location also had significance to Elijah.

1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
²Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
2nd Kings 2:1-2 KJV

Bethel is located in the southern countryside of the Jordan. John in a way is picking up where Elijah left off his ministry. He partook in the same experiences as Elijah in preparation for his message. I am not suggesting that John is an incarnation of Elijah.

We have the advantage of hearing baptism as a standard term however, this was not a thing during those times and times previous to this. So let’s look at what this ritual looks like.

So we have submersion in water, a confession of sins and a ritual cleansing of sin, generally Christian’s today do this to represent their “born again” status. So, what historic rituals were similar in the Jewish tradition.

We come upon the Tvilah (טְבִילָה). Now there is two forms of this. One is to wash the hands with a cup. However, the other form is the one that is more interesting to our topic. It is immersion in the Mikveh, which is like a tub of water. This ritual is done for a number of different reasons. The main theme of this however is to make one ritually clean. This is most often observed before Yom Kippur (The Day Of Atonement).

So what we have here in baptism is something similar pointing to a confession of sin being part of the ritual cleansing making the Mikveh less dominant and the confession of sin the more important place. The water being an icon of cleaning.

⁴As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
⁵Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
⁶And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Luke 3:4-5 KJV

This is a quoted prophecy from Isaiah.

3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 40:3-5 KJV

You might notice that there is a slight difference here. This is because Luke was quoting these verses from the Greek Septuagint translation. He most likely did not know Hebrew fluently, however he would have certainly known Greek. This being far more of a familiar language would explain his choice.

Now something to understand is when kings used to travel they would have people go ahead of them and clear the path. It was dangerous for a king to travel hindered due to threat of being harmed or captured and also his time is important. John is preparing the way for the coming King. This would be a familiar concept to the people of this time.

However, John is not talking about a physical path in a physical desert. He is talking about a spiritual path in a spiritual desert. He was preparing people for the message of the Lord. So that they could receive it. An inspiration of self reflection among any that would receive the message.

⁷Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Luke 3:7 KJV

This statement is very harsh. Vipers is a reference to Genesis actually.

¹⁴And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
¹⁵And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:14-15 KJV

What John is preaching is these people are sons of Satan, not sons of God. Notice that the seeds mentioned are the seed of the woman (Jesus) and the seed of the serpent (Nimrod?). There are two religious systems. The mystery religion which was established at Babylon when they were building the tower of Babel. Which is salvation achieved by one self, and Jesus’s system salvation achieved through God’s mercy alone. You can choose one or the two, you can follow the law and never sin in your entire life. Sure, you can attempt that but I am sure most everyone reading this has sinned at least once in their life up unto this point. You are screwed because the punishment of sin is death.

An impossible standard, one that God recognizes. This is why he sent Christ to the world in the first place. To remove us of our sins so that we can be claimed by God. I am going for that route. It is the only option I have left, and I am sure it is the only option you too have left. Not a single person can claim righteousness. We are all selfish by nature.

Don’t get me wrong, Christianity is not a license to sin. I am going to stress though, it is not about adapting to be like Jesus, it is about allowing Jesus to form it within us. Our very nature will change, we will become a new creature in him. This is what baptism is. This is the message the vipers reject. They claim their righteousness through merit. Prideful, just like their father, Satan.

⁸Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
⁹And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Luke 3:8-9 KJV

Another strange statement from John. He is telling these people they are imposters and they are not children of Abraham and that their blood line means nothing to God.

Now it would be easy to just assume the stones mentioned are just river stones or whatever rocks were on the ground at this riverbank. Some people suggest that the stones may be the stone monuments mentioned in Joshua.

²Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
³And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
⁴Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
⁵And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
Joshua 4:2-5 KJV

So they set up monuments to commemorate the crossing of the Jordan with the arc of the Covenant. It seems a little bit like a stretch right.

⁶That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
⁷Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
Joshua 4:6-7 KJV

The lack of context anticipates you asking the question. What are these stones John mentions. These are a testament to the sons of Israel. How fitting for them to be pointed out to display these are no longer the true sons of Israel but of Satan instead.

¹⁰And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
¹¹He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.
Luke 3:10-11 KJV

I want to stop here and point out a heresy that is becoming common with this verse. This is not a support of Socialism. This is a person as an individual seeing a need and filling it with what they are abundant in. John is saying if you have enough for yourself and you see someone in need of what you have enough of, you are to share it. He is not suggesting you go without for someone, nor is he suggesting the government force you to either. He is suggesting it is good to help others. This is attesting to your character as a person. Not the deed in itself. The deed is worthless if it is not self inspired. God wants you to WANT TO do these things, not FORCE you to do them.

¹²Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
¹³And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.
Luke 3:12-13 KJV

This likewise is saying that politicians and public servants are worthy of their work. God is not anti-government. John is saying that they are to collect and to carry out their duties in accordance to the law appointed to them. However, he is saying don’t go beyond your duties, don’t over tax someone and pocket it. Don’t be corrupt. Be upright and serve your office in a goodly fashion.

¹⁴And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
Luke 3:14 KJV

Once again God is not anti-soldier or police officer. John is not suggesting to the soldier he should repent of his profession. He is saying not to harm anyone outside of what must be done to serve (in cases of war and defending the land obviously you must fight.), don’t make a false report to solve an issue or crime, and to be content with your wages. Don’t start a rebellion or refuse to do your duty as a soldier due to wanting an increase in the wage you agreed upon when enlisting.

Moreover, all these things apply to every one of us in some form or another. The point is once again, to not adapt to form but to allow these things to form within us.

¹⁵And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;
Luke 3:15 KJV

Last chapter I pointed out how the people were naturally spreading rumors. Apparently one of the common rumors was that John was the Christ. This misconception could be forgiven since Jesus had not begun his ministry. However, John being a righteous servant of God, did not allow it to tempt him. He carried out his duties properly without taking a mantel that was not his. His was the mantel of Elijah.

¹⁶John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
¹⁷Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
¹⁸And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people.
Luke 3:16-18 KJV

Now John makes a distinction between his WATER baptism, being a lesser baptism than the baptism of Christ. Christ will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. This is the Christian baptism, the sprinkling or submersion in water is not a true baptism. John who performed it even tells us that.

¹⁹But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,
²⁰Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
Luke 3:19-20 KJV

John was ultimately imprisoned. These verses are out of order for some reason or another. John never left prison, he was beheaded. Luke for some reason decided to add this detail here before the next portion.

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,
²²And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
Luke 3:21-22 KJV

So when Jesus is baptized. “THE HEAVEN” is opened up, this is the third heaven, the dwelling place of God. This was a visible thing, the people here apparently saw all this. Maybe it was just John and Jesus. Out of this opening, the Holy Spirit visibly descends in the form of a dove upon Jesus. A dove is a symbol of peace. A voice came from the opening saying that Jesus was his Son, no doubt God’s voice, and that he was very pleased with him.

²³And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
Luke 3:23 KJV

Now we are given the genealogy of Jesus.

²⁴Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph,
²⁵Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge,
²⁶Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda,
²⁷Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri,
²⁸Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er,
²⁹Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi,
³⁰Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim,
³¹Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David,
³²Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson,
³³Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda,
³⁴Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor,
³⁵Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala,
³⁶Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,
³⁷Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,
³⁸Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
Luke 3:24-38 KJV

Adam is referred to as the son of God because he is a direct creation of God to father. We are all offspring of Adam. So don’t let that confuse you at all.

Well with that, another study finished. We are well on our way into the book of Luke. I hope you all have been enjoying this as much as I have. Have a great day and a better tomorrow.

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Bible Study, Ecclesial Studies, Luke

Bible Study: Luke Chapter 2

Posted on December 3, 2019December 13, 2019 by Jayce Ran

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Before we start this chapter I want to give a quick history lesson on the events that have unfolded in Rome at the time. In 44 BC Julius Caesar was assassinated. This caused a time of unrest in Rome and ultimately spelled the beginnings of its doom. A rather large series of wars broke out within Rome. The lower class people began having uprisings and all the twisted snakes within the higher classes had all their own plots and agendas.

The ultimate victor of this series of conflicts is Octavius, Julius Caesar’s nephew. He is given the title of Caesar Augustus. Hailed as the leader of Rome. Thing is, he was left quiet a mess. A need to rebuild, a need to replenish military forces and staggering other loyalty issues to deal with. Just wanted to give a clear view of the current events of the time. It does help formulate a view of the times we are reading about.

2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
Luke 2:1-3 KJV

First thing I want to establish is the difference between the way we do our census and the way the Roman’s did. While we have some bloke with a clip board show up at our door or receive something in the mail (depending on country) Rome required everyone to specific places (normally the closest city to your hometown) where the census takers were. This required travel. While there they would meet with census takers and then be on their way.

Also Cyrenius is the Greek name of a man named Publius Quirinus. Just in case you wanted to do some research into him.

⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
Luke 2:4 KJV

This is making it clear that Jesus was of the lineage of David which once again was prophesied to be the bloodline that the Lord’s Christ would be born.

⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
Luke 2:5-6

We have Mary being close to delivery. If you are easily offended by Holiday information you may want to skip ahead to the next part. If you are not, then here is some interesting information. No Roman census could take place during winter. Mary delivering a child at this time tells you that Jesus was not born on December 25th. Most likely Christ was born sometime in the Spring or Summer.

Now if that bothers you, it should not. Traditions exist for the purposes of celebrating something. Celebrating the birth of Christ is a wonderful thing. We should do this all day, every day. So, don’t make that into a point of contention. The only reason we know about Resurrection Sunday is due to the Hebrew calendar and the fact they were celebrating Pesach (Passover). Otherwise I am sure that as well would not be kept on the exact day.

⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7 KJV

For those who have issue with Jesus having brothers and sister and for the heretics who suggest that Mary had children before Jesus; Luke makes it very clear that Jesus was her firstborn son. This presupposes she had other children. None of which came before Jesus and all the others came after him. Which is she had other children means, MARY DID NOT DIE A VIRGIN! I know, I just ruffled feathers here. I am sorry but, the truth is the truth. This is what the word says and we must accept it.

I have seen mangers pictured so many different ways. Most likely it was not clean and the reason Mary wrapped Jesus in cloths was to keep him clean. Why is the manger dirty? A manger is a feeding trough. It might have been a wooden one but also what is common is a stone one. Not something very comfortable for a child. Nor does it give any acknowledgement to his royalty.

⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Luke 2:7 KJV

We have lost some of the cultural understandings people held with our modern world. It is easy to miss why it is important to bring up the shepherds.

Shepherds were considered unclean by the law of Moses. They could not worship for a great deal of the year at the temple. Most Hebrews held Shepherds as being undesirable and would much rather not associate with them.

They too understood the law of Moses. Having an angel appear before them would cause them terror. One because angels are apparently terrifying and two they were scared of being judged by God. An angel would have no place coming to such filthy people. At least this was the image the people had instilled into them.

¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Luke 2:10 KJV

So once again the angel says fear not. Most likely we are dealing with Gabriel here, tradition tends to hold this idea but perhaps not. The angel immediately tells the shepherds that it comes with good news. This would naturally alleviate their fears of a coming judgement on them. Not only good news but good news which shall be to all the people. Essentially telling them to go and spread this news.

¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:11-14 KJV

Not just one angel now, but a whole host of angels. We are not given any idea how large a host of angels is but it is clearly some kind of division. Let’s take a look at the Greek and figure out what a host exactly is. Stratias (στρατιᾶς), an army. So there are many angels, an army of angels. They had been there before they made themselves known and appeared out of nowhere and what do they do? They praise God and announce their good will towards men.

Why would an army of angels being hanging about? I think they had tasks of their own but God decided it best not to allow us to know that information. So pondering it can be fun but once again if it is not in scripture you cannot be sure.

¹⁵And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
Luke 2:15 KJV

The imagery here is interesting. Notice there is no directional movement for these angels. They simply went away into heaven. The words here are apēlthon (ἀπῆλθον); which means to go away, to go after. Then we have ouranon (οὐρανὸν), which is an odd word. It means heaven. However it is also the heaven of the sky, the heaven of the stars, and the heaven of the spiritual realms. So this is a non descriptive word here. We only know that the went to one of the heavens, which one I am not sure. I would lean on it being the spiritual heaven since no direction was given.

I imagine the shepherds were just amazed at what was going on. Standing there and left wondering, what is that? After receiving the news they gathered together and all decided to go from the countryside into Bethlehem to find this child King in a manger.

Now I want to make you aware of this, the priests of Israel should have done their duty and been looking for baby Jesus. They had the benefits of prophecy, they also had the benefit of actually having the writings of the prophets. Because of this they did not they were not given the honor. Instead it was given to the low. Which is beautiful. Worldly success is nothing in God’s eyes. Instead the real treasure comes from those who are rich with God.

¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
¹⁷And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
¹⁸And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
Luke 2:16-18 KJV

It should have been the priests announcing this. Not the shepherds. They failed in their duty! How many of us are doing the same. We are given the word and yet still we don’t bother with it? I know there are many opportunities I have squandered and it hurts when I think about it. I had years go by without doing my diligence in the word. If I had studied earlier, I would be years beyond what little I know now. Don’t be like the priests of Israel who missed the birth of Christ.

Now the shepherds went out telling everyone. Now this is not like five guys and a heard of sheep. There would have been a lot of shepherds telling the same story. Since there was an army of angels (messengers). However, they did not just take the angels word for it. They searched first and found Jesus, don’t proclaim anything without first searching it for yourself.

¹⁹But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19

Mary watched and saw all these things happening, miracle after miracle poured out around her. She ponders them within her heart. Meaning she deeply is being affected by all this. Luke makes it clear that these things are affecting Mary greatly. Not Joseph though. I am sure he was but Luke did not feel it necessary to mention.

²⁰And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Luke 2:20 KJV

Notice the shepherds are praising God. This is when Jesus was an infant. There are no wise men here. The images of Christ in a manger being visited by the wise men is wrong. Just keep that in mind.

²¹And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
²²And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
²³(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
²⁴And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.
Luke 2:21-24 KJV

First off we have the naming of Jesus and his bris which we covered last chapter with John. Now purification was a ceremonial practice which could be a study all of it’s own. For the purposes of this particular study we are only going to look at the direct text and the concept behind it.

Now according to the law the firstborn is to be sacrificed to the Lord. Many people twist this and say “That means God wants child sacrificing.” No it points to higher things. God requires a substitute. For most it is a lamb, however for the poor a pair of doves and pigeons is also allowed. This tells us Mary and Joseph were both poor. Now why is sacrificing a substitute so important. Because Jesus is the first born of God. The ultimate sacrifice. He is our eternal substitute since God is the creator of man and God’s first born must be sacrificed, Jesus is before Adam, a new first born. A sacrifice to end all other sacrifices.

²⁵And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
²⁶And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
²⁷And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
²⁸Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Luke 2:25-28 KJV

The holy spirit is among Simeon as well. In fact he is one of the few priests who were not corrupted at this time.

²⁹Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
Luke 2:29

First thing to point out, this is an extremely weak translation. I am going to re translate it into modern language because it is way more impactful. lettest is actually apolueis (ἀπολύεις) which means to set free or release. Servant is doulon (δοῦλον) which is a bond servant or slave. Depart is apoluó (ἀπόλύω) it is to release, but it is used in regards to prisoners or debtors. So really what he is saying is this: “Lord, now set free your bond servant release me of my debt in peace, according to your word:” What debt is he talking about?

³⁰For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Luke 2:30 KJV

He is recognizing that Jesus is the one who will set free man of their debt of sin.

³¹Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
³²A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Luke 2:31-32 KJV

He is not just going to free the Jews, but he is going to set free all people, Gentile and Jew alike. Not only that but Christ will bring glory back to Israel. Not the Rothchilds; Israel still needs further restoration. The true throne of David will rise again in God’s timing. Let us pray for the return Kingdom daily. Now remember, Luke is a gentile and he would find it important to make it a point that Jesus came for EVERYONE, not just for Israel.

³³And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
Luke 2:33 KJV

I know they understood Jesus was special but I don’t think they truly grasped just how special he was. These words should not be shocking considering he is heir of all things. Still they are marveled.

³⁴And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;
³⁵(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
Luke 2:34-35 KJV

This is a warning to Mary that troubling times are coming. That while many will be blessed it will reveal the true hearts of people, the mask will be lifted and the true sin nature of people will show. The violence in peoples hearts are a hideous thing when revealed open for all to see. He is warning Mary the Jesus is going to do just that.

³⁶And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
Luke 2:36 KJV

Another woman in ministry, chosen by God.

³⁷And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
³⁸And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
Luke 2:37-38 KJV

She recognized he was Christ as well. I want to make a point of this fasting, is a good thing. It clears the mind and keeps the body healthy. Prayer also clears the soul and keeps the spirit healthy. Both are key functions of human living. You should consider fasting especially for the health benefits.

Why did Luke specifically name these two people? I think it might be because they were the only two who recolonized who Jesus was at the temple.

³⁹And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.
⁴⁰And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
Luke 2:40 KJV

Time passes and Jesus grows up.

⁴¹Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
⁴²And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
Luke 2:41-42 KJV

Twelve years old is a very specific number. Thirteen is when a child is consider a man in Hebrew traditions. So he is still a boy.

⁴³And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
⁴⁴But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
⁴⁵And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
Luke 2:43-45 KJV

You might think they were unfit parents, however this was common at the time. People would travel with their families and towns in large groups so it was often the kid was running around chatting up their uncles and aunts and other people. Stranger danger was not really a thing.

So to their surprise when they could not find Jesus they turned back around and thought we left him behind! Quickly I would imagine they ran back to the city!

⁴⁶And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
⁴⁷And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
Luke 2:46-47 KJV

We see this method used often in the Bible. God asks questions to things he already knows. So likewise Jesus would show the same characteristics. This obviously displayed his complete and total understanding of the Torah and law of Moses.

⁴⁸And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
⁴⁹And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
Luke 2:48-49 KJV

This is Jesus’s first words recorded in the Bible. The real interesting part is that Jesus refers to our heavenly father as “MY FATHER”. No where in the bible is this reference used before this point. He is our father as well especially as Christians we have every right to call God “My Father” because he is my Father.

So we know for a fact Jesus knew his mission here on earth, granted it was at twelve but we know he knew at an early age if not in the womb itself.

⁵⁰And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
⁵¹And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Luke 2:50-52 KJV

There we go we have completed Luke Chapter 2. I hope you found this to be a blessing to you. Next study will be finished very soon. Like within the next few hours soon.

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Bible Study, Ecclesial Studies, Luke

Bible Study: Luke Chapter 1

Posted on December 2, 2019December 13, 2019 by Jayce Ran

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It is December 1st, the beginning of the Christmas season. Out of the gospels Luke is 24 chapters which fits perfectly for a study during the holidays. I encourage you to gather your friends and families and attend to this study reading one chapter a day together. It is a nice little tradition that you can form but also gives us a chance to remember the birth and life of Christ our King. Even better it is nicely wrapped up on Christmas eve. With that being said let’s begin.

1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
²Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
Luke 1:1-2 KJV

First thing I wanted to point out. Luke is saying that he is a believer here but unlike the other Gospel writers he was not an eyewitness which suggests Luke became a believer sometime later. Strikingly there is not that much information about who Luke really was. We can make some guesses such as that Luke was a physician and a gentile. The physician part is made in refrences but also appears in his writing. The word eyewitness is “autoptai” (αὐτόπται) which is a medical term for autopsy. There is some heavy suggestion that Luke traveled with Paul off and on during his ministry.

There is also a suggestion that there were other gospels floating around at the time, not all of them good either. There is an established church at the time of writing this as well as “believed among us,” would suggest.

³It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
⁴That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
Luke 1:3 KJV

Luke is letting us know since he was not an eyewitness he is taking the role of researcher. This is actually what he would have been an expect at since physician work is all about gathering symptoms and signs and coming to an educated conclusion on how to treat whatever it is that is ailing the person commissioning your services. So approaching this as an investigation his work shows those who were not eyewitnesses how to find truth and faith.

Now, who is Theophilus. Well, Theophilus means “friend of God.” the fact he was called the “most excellent” Theophilus suggests he had some kind of honor bestowed onto him. There are all kinds of views from him being a Jewish priest, some say he was Paul’s lawyer, some suggest a Roman officer of some kind because of that little “most excellent”, there are a lot of theories, some more credible than others. If there is not much bible evidence for a theory, then it is a rabbit hole. You can go chase that one if you like but for the purposes of this study we are just going to look at what he did. Point is he most likely distributed Luke’s gospel after he had finished it. Maybe even was a scribe making more copies of it.

⁵There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
Luke 1:5 KJV

This makes perfect sense, right? If you are like me I got the first part pretty easily. During Herod’s time as king of Judaea, got it. A priest named Zacharias, no problem. Then it mentions in the course of Abia? What is Abia and what is the course of it?

Well a course in this sense is a set of priests. These courses were established during the time of King David. They had twenty four courses total and each of them had to perform their priestly tasks twice a year. So when it is saying that the course of Abia it is telling you Zacharias is part of that set of priests.

Before we continue I wanted to point out an interesting fact. Zacharias means “YHWH Remembers” and Elizabeth means “My God Is An Oath.” So what do you get when you put the two together “God Remembers His Oath”.

⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Luke 1:6 KJV

I am not sure why Luke is making this a point. I suspect there was some kind of smear campaign against John going around and maybe that was tied to his parents in some way. Not sure, but establishing that God found the pair blameless is a pretty impactful statement.

⁷And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
Luke 1:7 KJV

I find it odd how God chooses to use age as an indicator of his power. Woman that should be long passed their ability to have children, let alone healthy ones, are suddenly given the ability to conceive. He does this with Isaac, Samson, and Samuel. Likewise a greater miracle is performed through Mary who conceives as a virgin.

⁸And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
⁹According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
Luke 1:8-9 KJV

Here we see a gentile explaining the practices from an outsiders prospective. The even more astonishing part is how by chance he was chosen to perform this rite. Most likely this would be the only time in his life that he would do this task. It just so happens God worked it out that his one chance is when he is needed.

¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
¹¹And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
¹²And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
Luke 1:10-12 KJV

So Zacharias went into the Holy Place of the temple which is located outside of the Holy of Holies. There is a spot called the Altar of Incense which is outside inside the Holy Place. This location is where all this was taking place. Outside he would have most likely heard the prayers while he was performing the rite of burning the incense.

During this, is when “AN” angel of the Lord appeared before Zacharias. I emphasize that because it is not “THE” angel of the Lord. This is an angel named Gabriel, generally he is considered a messenger of God. One of the arch angels in most traditions. He and Michael are the only two upright angels mentioned by name in the Bible.

Now Zacharias is stricken with fright. I am going to suggest it is not from his initial reaction of being jumped. I am kind of thinking it is the alien appearance of Gabriel who may or may not be one of the Holy Beasts mentioned in Revelation. Our view of angels are winged people, however the descriptions given in the Bible rarely affirm this view. So, as you would imagine Zacharias is terrified.

¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
¹⁴And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
Luke 13 KJV

I am going to make an interesting suggestion here as well. Fear not is most likely not Gabriel attempting to calm Zacharias about his presence. Instead he immediately says that his prayers were heard and that his wife Elisabeth shall bare a son. Now we all have personal prayers in our heart. I am going to suggest that Zacharias was praying for a son.

Now names when given to people are important. Especially when from God. So John must have a meaning to it. Well it does, John means “YHWH is Gracious”. Indeed he is. I am sure Zacharias thought this himself, as did Elizabeth who will later demand that be his name.

¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
Luke 1:15 KJV

So we are given an overview of John’s life before he is born. He will be a joy and a delight to you. He will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will never drink fermented drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before birth. Sounds like he is going to be a guy with a real fire for the Lord. He was too. This John is John the Baptist.

¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
Luke 1:16 KJV

I don’t know about you but I heard a few stories about a guy named John the Baptist and I think the descriptions fit pretty well. Granted we are given all this post John’s ministry. None the less the account surely came from first hand accounts. Someone like Luke would not take hearsay as evidence as once again, he is a trained physician which is the same as an expert investigator.

¹⁷And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Luke 1:17 KJV

Elias, is also named Elijah, Gabriel is saying that John is going to be a mirror image of Elijah in many ways. Elijah was the prophet who faced King Ahab and the “Priests of Baal” which is where we get the term Cannibal from. He also was driven into the wilderness after his showdown by Jezebel. Like Elijah who turned the people from worshiping a devil named Baal, John is presented in the same fashion. He will bring back the people to worship God.

¹⁸And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
Luke 1:18 KJV

Someone else did that too, if I remember correctly. Sarah, when THE angel of the Lord came to her and told Abraham she would conceive Isaac. Granted she did not speak it she thought it in her mind. Zacharias however spoke it to Gabriel.

¹⁹And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
²⁰And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
Luke 1:19 KJV

Gabriel declares his name finally. Now, I notice autonomy here. I am not sure though. God could have commanded this of Gabriel but somehow I see this as Gabriel acting on his will to curse Zacharias. He offended Gabriel. This reaction does not seem to be a gentle and understanding one but rather a burst of emotion. Like “How can you question God?” If this is true I think this is a beautiful display of God’s perfection.

Sarah very easily could have had the same kind of curse befall her but God did not curse her, at least not any that we are privy to. So, this shows God’s mercy and restraint is even above that of the angels who we tend to idolize as perfect as well. Perhaps he did not do wrong. I am not sure but it is something that I think about sometimes when coming across these things.

²¹And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
²²And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
Luke 1:21-22 KJV

Now we have Zacharias walking out, and the other priests praying outside have most likely stopped praying and were really puzzled as to what is going on. I would imagine they might have even began to hypothesize among each other as to what exactly has occured.

So when Zacharias walks out and everyone most likely rushed up to him asking him what took you so long, what happened in there. He starts using his hands and gesturing. Then once they realized he could not speak they knew something supernatural had occurred and in the Holy Place of all places. So they rejoiced. However, Zacharias could not share any of it, talk about burning to tell a secret.

²³And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.
²⁴And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
²⁵Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
Luke 1:23-25 KJV

Now Zacharias finishes his duties at the temple and returns home. Imagine how that conversation went, or rather didn’t. I am sure he was accompanied by a fellow priest who explained what happened to Elizabeth. Though I like to consider that he did not. It is kind of a comical image.

Now there is something strange here and all the commentaries I have read never have any definitive answer to this. Why did she hide herself away? I do not know the answer to this one. People suggest it was that she devoted herself to praising God for five months, or that she wanted to avoid rumors, or that she wanted to be sure she was pregnant. I just think it is such a strange thing and the fact that detail is in there it must have been known to people at the time she did indeed do this. This would lend credibility to Luke.

²⁶And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
²⁷To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
Luke 1:26 – 27 KJV

So now we are following Gabriel to Galilee. A place that most Jewish people would consider to be, undesirable. Now it is interesting that Luke mentions that they were of the House Of David.

⁵Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
⁶In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 KJV

So interesting little note, not so inspected here but both Joseph and Mary are of the line of David.

²⁸And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
²⁹And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
Luke 1:28-29 KJV

Now this time we see Mary not being troubled by Gabriel but rather what he was saying. After all when someone shows up and is like “HEY, your highly favored! You are really a blessed woman!” it might be a little odd.

³⁰And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
³¹And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luke 1:30-32 KJV

So Gabriel explains himself more. I would imagine Gabriel is rather excitedly giving the news. After all he is announcing the coming of the King of Kings. So he makes it more clear the favor she has is from God. He also tells her she will have a son and his name will be Jesus “to rescue” “to save” “to deliver” so she would immediately understand the meaning of this conversation.

Gabriel further details that he will be the “Son of the Highest” think Son of God (because he is the Highest), and not only that but he is going to reclaim the throne of David, which at this time is not in existence as it was destroyed in 586 BC.

³³And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luke 1:33 KJV

The house of Jacob is Israel, Jacob was often referred to as Israel. So Gabriel is saying that Jesus is going to rule over all of the Israeli people from the throne of David. A prophecy to be fulfilled.

³⁴Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
Luke 1:34 KJV

Now we see once again Mary questioning Gabriel… so curse time!?

³⁵And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:35 KJV

There is a difference between Mary and Zacharias as Gabriel cursed Zacharias for his doubt, but Mary he did not, instead he explained the method. So what is the difference here? I think it is an answer of heart. Mary was curious whereas Zacharias thought Gabriel was preposterous. This goes to show that the temperament of God and his angels are really focused on the internal actions of a person and the sincerity of one’s own heart. If you trust in the Lord he will bless you. If you doubt God, he will curse you.

³⁶And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
³⁷For with God nothing shall be impossible.
Luke 1:36-37 KJV

Gabriel further tells Mary news of her cousin Elisabeth (much much older cousin), that she is preggers too. This is also a confirmation that God is in control of the further actions. Which no doubt being told you are going to have the honor and responsibility of raising the Savior King of Israel, its a pretty daunting task. Any reassurance would be greatly beneficial to her. Some how I doubt that she needed it though. Considering the way Gabriel approached her.

³⁸And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:38 KJV

I like to point this out. A lot of people like to say stupid things like God forced Mary to have his child. They make this a point of contention as if woman are given no value. Mary right here is not only consenting but she considers it an honor. She accepts this willingly and then Gabriel leaves after.

³⁹And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;
⁴⁰And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
⁴¹And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
Luke 1:39-41 KJV

Of course after Mary hears the news that Elisabeth is pregnant, she goes to visit. When Mary arrives John being filled with the holy spirit kicks. He has an emotional response to Mary’s presence because she carried Christ within her.

I want to make a point of this. ABORTION IS AN ABOMINATION! We are seeing a six month old fetus react to the presence of God here. Any Christian should be convicted because before John was in the womb he was filled with the Holy Spirit. This means from the point he was a single celled zygote the Holy Spirit was within him. There is no defense. A Christian should stand adamantly against this act of murder. Furthermore Christ at this point is a zygote. Only a few hundred cells at most. So stop accepting this heresy. It is a crime against humanity.

⁴²And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
⁴⁴For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
⁴⁵And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
Luke 1:42-43 KJV

I am puzzled by these verses. Not because of John, though the idea of the Holy Spirit at birth being within someone also is something to think about, the puzzle I am confronted with is how did Elizabeth know? This suggests to me because she carried John, that by osmosis the Spirit was also within her.

It is also important to know that there is no delineation of royalty among Elizabeth’s words. She is not saying Mary is the Queen of Heaven or above all women or the greatest woman, rather she is saying she is the most honored by God. It is her receiving something; not her ownership of anything.

⁴⁶And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
Luke 1:46 KJV

Some people have taken this out of context misreading the words. I have heard it suggested that Mary is claiming her soul magnified the Lord. Rather she is saying that her soul highly proclaims God’s greatness.

⁴⁷And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Luke 1:47 KJV

This displays that Mary already knows of the future for her child. Remember the accounts written in the Gospels are summaries of these events, rather than direct line for line accounts. There could have been much discussion from Gabriel or God could be directly communicating with Mary while in the womb.

⁴⁸For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Luke 1:48 KJV

Mary is saying God has uplifted her even though she was of a low estate or poor. That everyone will recognize her as the mother who brought Jesus into the world. That God has blessed her greatly. This is true too. Mary is almost synonymous with Jesus today.

⁴⁹For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
Luke 1:49 KJV

The great things are not detailed but one of them for sure is the virgin conception.

⁵⁰And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
Luke 1:50 KJV

I want to really stop and look at this statement. This is a very interesting characteristic of God. He is not a bully. Those who fear him have his mercy. From generation to generation means that he does not change. God does not change. He says this many times and here is another way of saying it.

⁵¹He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
⁵²He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
Luke 1:51-52 KJV

Now we have a contrast. If you do not fear God, and stand against him, he will utterly ruin you.

⁵³He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
Luke 1:53 KJV

Once again displaying God’s values are not man’s values. Riches are not evil in themselves, nor is being poor a good thing. However, honor and respect for God is. Those who follow God’s ways are blessed by them.

⁵⁴He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
⁵⁵As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
Luke 1:54-55 KJV

Mary is thanking God for his protection over Israel and the covenant he swore with them. She is also thanking God for remaining faithful even when the sons of Israel are not.

⁵⁶And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
Luke 1:56 KJV

Three months is around the time when John would have been born. She either left just before his birth, most likely helping Elizabeth. This would also be the time when Mary has begun to show. Remember Mary is NOT married to Joseph at this time. She is an unwed woman who is showing. In a Jewish village that is a good way to get accused of adultery or fornication. Both things which can get you stoned. This could also be another possible motive for Mary going back to her home in Galilee where it is far more acceptable.

⁵⁷Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.
⁵⁸And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.
Luke 1:57-58 KJV

Ok, here I have to laugh a little. I can imagine when Elisabeth first allowed people to know of her pregnancy people talked. Most likely suggesting this like “That old hag pregnant, sure, she is just getting fat.” We all know what people say behind peoples backs and this time period is no different. I am sure this was the talk of the town.

Now when she walked out of her home with baby John swaddled in her arms, I bet that was a proud moment for her. She most likely felt vindicated and peoples head’s exploded. It was a miracle and no one could deny it. She was far too old to have a natural born child.

⁵⁹And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.
⁶⁰And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
Luke 1:59-60 KJV

This is what is called a bris. It is done on the eighth day according to God’s law. Funny thing is when circumcising you want a lot of Vitamin K so the blood clots fast. It just so happens on the eighth day, Vitamin K is at it’s highest. Only God could have known that when forming this tradition.

It is customary to name a child after someone in the lineage. Names are important and this also happens normally during the bris. The idea is that by that time the parents have had a chance to see the personality of the child. It is mostly ceremonial. However, Elizabeth demands that he be called John.

A question that arises… how did she know?

⁶¹And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.
⁶²And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.
Luke 1:61-62 KJV

So naturally when they hear her response it broke tradition. This is unusual and they all recognized this. So they made signs for Zacharias to read. Now this is funny because being hard of hearing was not part of the curse. Is this something new?

⁶³And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.
Luke 1:63 KJV

I think this is more evidence of God’s hand. Now the priests performing the bris most likely were confounded. What a strange thing?

⁶⁴And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.
Luke 1:64 KJV

And the prophecy fulfilled; the curse is lifted. I am not an expert on the mechanics of how curses work or what sustains their power. I am going to assume God has control over that. However, it is clear that curses are a thing. I just point that out to remind people not to fool around with this stuff. They have real life applications and consequences.

⁶⁵And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.
⁶⁶And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.
Luke 1:65-66 KJV

John now has instant credibility by virtue of his fantastic history. The word of all these things would spread around the Hebrew communities and no doubt people would be making plans for him. This would be a credit to him when he begins his ministry. People would remember the stories surrounding him and naturally be drawn to his presence.

⁶⁷And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
Luke 1:67 KJV

We are seeing the Holy Spirit born into the world through a vessel as well at this point. A parallel. Jesus being the son of God and John being filled with his spirit. We have seen this spirit transfer through his family so far. It goes from him first being filled with it at birth, then to his mother who carries him and now to his father having been freed from the curse because of his given name. I will share one of my secret thoughts with you. I think there is a spiritual lesson here about freedom from sin but I have not wrestled with it enough.

⁶⁸Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
Luke 1:68 KJV

Knowing that Mary is carrying Jesus Zacharias is praising God with his first words. Letting people know that the savior is now among them. Redemption is at hand.

⁶⁹And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
⁷⁰As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

Zacharias is making a direct connection to the prophets here. He is telling everyone to look back because the answers to the coming events lays in their history. Even more he details this.

⁷¹That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
⁷²To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
⁷³The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
⁷⁴That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
Luke 1:71-74 KJV

He is reminding them of God’s promises to deliver them. The Oath God swore to Abraham.

⁷⁵In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
⁷⁶And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
⁷⁷To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,
⁷⁸Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
⁷⁹To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Luke 1:75 KJV

Word like this would spread fast through Israel. Sadly this would be misinterpreted by many. They expected a military commander as a savior. Instead they forgot the suffering servant first comes to bring light to the world.

⁸⁰And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
Luke 1:80 KJV

Like Elijah lived in the wild, so does John. There are many parallels between the two. This is not a normal thing to do for a child. To just leave his family and go live in the wild. Granted I would imagine his parents may have passed away so this is why he had chosen to do this. It also may be that many around Israel had agendas and he wanted to avoid the hassle. These of course are nothing more than baseless conjectures.

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Luke. I know it is a long chapter but it does give you a chance to really dive into the word and discover so many possibilities. The questions are endless when dealing with the Bible. You can read it a thousand times and find something new every single time.

If you enjoyed this study why not read the next one? Click the button below to be taken to the next chapter in this study.

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Bible Study, Ecclesial Studies, Matthew

Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 5:1-11 (The Beatitudes)

Posted on November 30, 2019March 31, 2021 by Jayce Ran

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I wanted to put special emphasis on this chapter so I am going to be going over the first part separately from the rest of the chapter and most likely will break up the chapter in a few other parts. This is the first portion of the Sermon on the Mount. Every Christian’s life goal should be to exude these qualities and walk in the image of these things. This is Christ giving us a guide on our inner character. So this is one of the most important section of the Bible.

The Beatitudes

1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
Matthew 5:1 KJV

First thing to point out again, chapters in the Bible did not exist in the original text it was all just one piece normally. The text was divide for easy quotation and divided into verses to further that goal. So when it starts with And think of the events previously mentioned in Chapter 4.

²⁵And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
Matthew 4:25 KJV

Matthew uses a string of 9 “ands” in a row so we are only going back one. Alright so, here we see a multitude of people have gathered in numbers to see Jesus and hear him preach. Now pay close attention to this. Jesus goes up into a mountain, and when he was set; kathisantos (καθίσαντος), literally means sitting down, his disciples came up the mountain to be with him.

The following sermon was given to his disciples and not the multitudes. He wanted the character of his disciples to be upright, so this following portion is given by extension to all disciples of Christ, aka Christians. This is also to denote that we should not expect this from non-believers and anyone acting outside of these qualities should be looked at as non-believers. All Christians should desire these qualities and exude them naturally. I am not suggesting we don’t faultier. However I am suggesting that we should study these and put forth our true best efforts to become these.

The make up of the following are a promise, something to exude, and a result of exuding that quality. These are things that should naturally form within us as Christians. These are not things you can actually act upon, they just kind of form in the mind over time. Mind you, you can try to act out these but that is being a hypocrite; an actor. You must become these things.

²And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
³Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:2-3 KJV

First question I would ask is what is a blessing? The word here is Makarios (Μακάριοι), it means to be happy, an extension of fortune, and well off. So being blessed is in this sense is being given favor from God so that he can benefit us by walking with him.

Next would be what is it to be poor in spirit. What does that mean? As Christians we are supposed to be faithful in the spirit right? Well, this is a little different. The word here used is ptōchoi (πτωχοὶ), which means “one who crouches and cowers” hence we translate this to poor. And the word for spirit is pneumati (πνεύματι) which is wind or spirit. Wind is something unseen, so the spirit is also unseen.

So this verse reads a little like this right now “Blessed are those who crouch and cower in the spirit. This is a very strange verse if you break it down like this. I am sure the verse has become more confusing with that. Bear with me, please. Jesus is suggesting that we are to recognize our emptiness inside. That we are indeed poor in spirit. We are to look upon our faults and recognize them. See them as they actually are and give them up to the lord. The only way we can walk with God is to realize our sinful natures.

Now this is not the same as saying to hold a false sense of humbleness or some kind of humility that is external alone. We are not to be cowards before the lord. That is also not what it is saying. It is saying in recognizing this and admitting these truths and becoming this, God will bless us! He will give us provisions to be rich in spirit. Further the result of this is the Kingdom of Heaven, not just that but a direct role in that Kingdom. (I’ll go into more detail about the Kingdom of Heaven at a later time. Right now the Beatitudes is the focus.)

⁴Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 KJV

Alright, mourn, I am sure you know how this goes. Penthountes (πενθοῦντες), to mourn, lament, to have sadness, grief. At first glance it is easy to skip over this and think, mourning the dead, or any of the other common things we are taught to mourn. However, if the previous beatitude was about our emptiness in spirit. We can assume this also applies to that our inner self as well. So question is what are we mourning? It is our sins. It is having a true sadness for the sins we commit and by extension the sins of others.

That being said, I would rather you focus on your own sins rather than others, if it is a non-believer it is a non-believer, and if it is another Christian, God will deal with them as well. Later we will go over what God has deemed the role of Christians to deal with the sins of other Christians.

The thing about sin is we can easily forgive it because we have been saved from its power. Still, God hates sin, it breaks God’s heart every time we commit a sin. Especially when we knowingly do it. So stop it! Easier said than done. It is a real powerful addiction and yet out of love God still suffers us.

However in our morning, Jesus once again tells us, we have a blessing, and the result of that is comfort. God will comfort us and love us just the way we are. He will do the work in mending our sinful nature. It takes time and it might not be an overnight transformation but over a lifetime we will mature with our heavenly father. So do not fret, just be mindful, and aware, and allow God to give you the baby steps and giant leaps of faith you need.

⁵Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5 KJV

Meek, praeis (πραεῖς), literally translates to gentle. Gentle means to show a tender or kind character. It is not being quick to anger but rather patient and at times soft. Now, this is not asking us to be weak. In order to be meek suggests you have the strength to do otherwise. If you did not have the strength needed to be Meek, you would just be helpless. This means that when someone points out our own faults we should consider these things and take them to heart. We should not be beyond reproach and we should temper and consider all things before acting.

This is one of the things I deeply need to work on. I have a fast wit and I enjoy using it for slashing. So, we kind of have to die to ourselves to be Meek. It is placing what God would want before what we would want. This also applies to the non-believer. We are to be long suffering with their miss understandings. After all our war is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities and powers in the high places of this world. Spiritual supernatural forces, not people. We are to love Non-believers and show them a way to the light.

This is also not to say we don’t defend ourselves. Moses was a Meek man, but he judged the nation of Egypt and brought great terror upon the land with the assistance of God. Even Jesus we will later read about threw the money lenders out of the temple.

Now, the blessing here is that we shall inherit the earth. This is a blessing that will play itself out in the future. I know some people won’t like this idea. I thought we went to heaven and spent eternity there. Might not be as simple as that. Not according to Christ at least. If we inherit the earth but do not dwell there what is the point of that? Food for thought.

⁶Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Matthew 5:6 KJV

I am not looking up the Greek for these!? I know right! Shocked myself too. I think we all know what hunger and thirsting is. Oh, wait, righteousness… I guess we should look up that. Sorry, thought you had one right? Dikaiosunēn (δικαιοσύνην), justice, correct, implication of innocence, just in the eyes of God, The elect.

Alright, so what is it to hunger and thirst for righteousness? Well, judging by the previous ones being self applicable, we should desire to have an appetite for what God wants. It should be as natural to us as eating or drinking and we should hunger and thirst to do what is right.

This is a question of your actual character. The deep intimate parts that exist when no one is looking. Do you do right even when you wont get caught doing wrong? Are you even tempted? I will admit, there are times when I am. There are times when I fail too. I wont air my dirty laundry but I know God knows and that shames me at times.

Do you see times when you can do something good in the world and see the opportunity as a joyous experience or do you see it as a bother or worse ignore it completely. These are all questions you should ask yourself. The answers when honest might surprise you. I know they surprise me sometimes.

The last part of that is being filled. This is a promise that God will give you opportunities to be righteous and to do the right thing. A brazen knight of God will be used far more often than a conscripted soldier for God. Be a knight of heaven not a conscript soldier who is only doing it for the payoff of being “saved”.

⁷Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Matthew 5:7 KJV

This one makes me tremble a little. Lets talk about mercy; mercy is forgiveness toward someone who has wronged you and it is within your power to punish or harm them and you choose not to.

It means not adopting a legalistic mind. Sometimes people break the rules, sometimes they do it intentionally, sometimes unintentionally. This means if someone steals from you, you do not take more than being repaid, or sometimes if it is within your means to simply let them have it. This is also sometimes forgiving a spouse who is struggling with a sin in their life.

I have a short little story, so this happened to me about a month ago. I accidentally stole a whole grocery cart of food from a store. I was checking out and I scanned an item twice. So I asked an employee to cancel an item. We did and we chatted and I packed up my stuff and walked off, WITHOUT SWIPING MY CARD! I drove home and noticed I did not have a receipt. I immediately called up the store and asked if I could come in and pay. The store could have said no and pressed charges on me, however they were very happy that I was honest about it. I went back in and paid immediately. However, they showed me mercy. Now I know most people think that it was not a big deal but still that is a true example of mercy and I am grateful toward them for that.

Now, mercy from God is not a condition of being merciful to others. It is rather the other way around. Since God has been merciful toward our sins and transgressions we should be merciful towards others. Now if someone is intentionally harming you, it is OK for you to stand up to them and not be merciful. We have police and court systems for a reason. Never allow yourself to be abused by someone because God asks us to be merciful. God is not a wimp, he does not let Satan gouge his eyes out or take what is his. When to be merciful is a personal thing between you and God. Pray on such matters and allow him to lead you.

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:8 KJV

Katharoi Kardia (καθαροὶ καρδίᾳ), clean heart or clean hearted. It means to wash your from worldly desires. This cannot be done by our power alone but rather we must rely on Christ for this spiritual heart cleaning. Let’s be honest, our hearts are normally stained with selfish desire, even when it comes to our closest most loved people in our lives.

Instead of desiring what is for God within our heart we tend to focus on our worldly wants. Jesus is telling us we need to be inline with God and if we are we shall see God in everything. There are times in my life that I am in line with God and it is a different world. Then we get comfortable and dirty our hearts again and no longer see things quiet like that. It tends to be a cycle with me. I don’t know if it is for you or not. What I can honestly say to my more youthful brother and sisters it does happen, just give it time and you will naturally see things the way God would.

⁹Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9 KJV

I think we all understand what a peacemaker is. It is someone who makes peace. What does it really mean to make peace though. What is peace? It is freedom from disturbance otherwise called tranquility. A lot of people seek this. In fact most religious ideals in the eastern traditions is based on the shadow of this.

I want to start close and expand out, this is a large topic in itself. So let’s start with the personal. Be a peacemaker within yourself. Instead of jumping to the worst conclusion about someone or an event search for advocacy for the other person. Then make peace within yourself about events. Likewise don’t always beat yourself up. Find what you did wrong, identify it, then calm yourself, and make all efforts to cut those wrong doings from your heart. Make peace internally with all things.

Next, lets zoom out to the immediate family, your household. First, remember you love these people. Think deeply on the events that occurred to cause discord. Identify the issues that caused them from an objective standpoint. If you had a role apply the repair to your role in the issue first. Then assist in repairing the issue or even apply a little mercy when needed. Forgiveness can go a long way.

Likewise do the same with your extended family. Same with the people in your neighborhood or church. Always identify the role you played or the role you can play in fixing the issue. Don’t seek to make DRAMA! It is annoying and does not help. If the issue is really serious sometimes staying out of it is making more peace than being involved. Know your place.

Know that not all conflicts will be resolved. You are in a time when war is the crowned ruler of the world. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing you can do with all the love in your heart to stop someone from being at conflict. However, we are to make every effort to attempt peace. This is peace without compromise. We do not lay in sin for the sake of peace. Sin is not to be tolerated in our own lives and no one can force us to participate in sin. We do not make peace with sin.

That last part is interesting, for they shall be called the children of God. Why is that? Because only true peace can come from Jesus. We are all brothers and sister under Christ seeking to be like him. This makes us the children of God.

¹⁰Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:10 KJV

Key words, Persecuted, FOR (believe it or not), and righteousness. We already know what righteousness is, so lets look closer at Persecuted and “for?”.

Dediōgmenoi (δεδιωγμένοι) which means to put to flight, pursue, to persecute. Persecute here means to be made to flee, to cause harm, to go after.

Now lets look at for here. I think this translation is weak. The word here is eneken (ἕνεκεν), it means on account of, because of. So the verse reads like this. “Blessed are they which are persecuted on account of (because of) righteousness:”

I think we are entering into times when we need to hold strong to this. There are very large swaths of the world who view Christianity is a bigoted religion because we hold to our morals. They see the need for morals in need for update. They say we need to be more diverse and more inclusive. We cannot be inclusive even if we desired it, because the separation of the world is the heart of the ecclesia, our coming to be with God. We cannot compromise God’s commands with the will of the world.

You will be persecuted and hated because you desire to walk in line with God. People will spit on you and try to drive you away for simply existing. There is coming a time you can be silent about your Christianity and if you are found out you will be treated like a pariah. But God promises you the Kingdom of Heaven shall be yours. It is interesting because this word can also be translated as royal power. So think of this. The royal power of heaven shall be yours. Perhaps God will do a whole lot more for you during your persecution than you even know.

Don’t be a coward and stand strong in the face of their attacks. Do not make war with them but do try and rescue all that will listen. The coming power that is strangling the world as we speak is going to be a terror unto them. Spread news to as many as you can while you can.

¹¹Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Matthew 5:11 KJV

Ill do a quick re-translation into modern english for you. “Blessed are you, whenever people shall insult you, and persecute you, and they shall lie and say every evil thing about you on because of me.” Can you imagine the pain God must go through watching us being harmed because of his name. In God we are to love others as he loves everyone else. The people do evil in the name of tolerance because their Lord is Satan, though most do it unknowingly; a great number do it because they are wicked not sinners.

Later I will do a study on the difference between those who are Christian, those who are sinners, and those who are wicked. This is more about the wicked than the sinner. The wicked do evil because they are evil. They follow Lucifer in his rebellion and like Satan, the accuser, they follow his nature and accuse everyone.

This one is not like the rest. We don’t get the details of what that blessing is. We are only told that we are blessed. We are blessed in our persecution? Indeed we are, how better to know that we are close to God than to suffer as he did? We should wear our scars and our turmoils like a badge of honor. Granted in life it is terrible, but life is relatively short. In a billion years you are going to look around and shout out “It has only just begun.” Now, for some that will be a triumphant shout, and for others, well, it will be a painful scream.

Don’t be counted among the wicked. Love God, love your neighbors, love your family, love your children, just love. Love on everyone even if they wish to do you harm. Kill em with kindness. Please take heart, the times coming will be terrible, but if you can stand in these beatitudes you will be sealed from the terrors of this world. While you will partake in the torments coming, you will be strong enough to survive them and even maybe find happiness among them.

Thank you for reading this Bible Study. I hope that you continue with me.

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Bible Study, Ecclesial Studies, Matthew

Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 4

Posted on November 21, 2019March 31, 2021 by Jayce Ran

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This study is a bit of a spooky one; so let’s approach this with prayer. The topic is Jesus in the desert being tempted by the devil. We are going to look at this as a study of the text but I also want to take this opportunity to discuss how we handle the devil in our own personal lives.

The Temptation Of Jesus

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Matthew 4:1 KJV

I am going to stop it here, what a strange notion, the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness for the express purpose of being tempted by the devil. Once gain providing a lesson in how to deal with such a thing. Devil here is (diabolou) διαβολου very similar to the Hebrew Satan. It means the accuser or slanderous or falsely. So the devil is someone who slanders and accuses and provides false testament. Think of this as the garden of Eden, actually, it very well may be the garden that Jesus returned to, now barren and destroyed after the flood.

See there is a thing in the Bible that makes a point of calling Jesus the last Adam. That is a study you can do on your own and I will go into it later but for now just knowing that is a thing is enough.

²And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Matthew 4:2 KJV

I have an interesting relationship with fasting. Fasting in itself is a good thing. The first three days you are desperately hungry but on the fourth your hunger tends to go away. Now fasting for 40 days is one of the longest fasts I have heard of. I would imagine if you were not obese that would be about the time frame when you are entering a desperate need to eat. Like medically in need of food. Muscles would cramp, you would feel sick, and you may even have painful head aches as well.

Now we have seen an image given of Jesus as Israel. So Jesus went into Egypt, left Egypt, and now is in the wilderness for 40 days much like the 40 years the Hebrew people wandered the desert.

³And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Matthew 4:3 KJV

Once again we have another name for the Satan here, he is called the tempter, the peirazōn (πειράζων); to make proof of, to attempt, to test, to tempt. Now this is not a question, he is making a statement. So he is not questioning if Jesus is the Son of God, he is saying something like “since you are”. This is how Jesus responds to the devils temptations.

⁴But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4 KJV

He quotes scripture at the devil. This is why you need to know your scripture. So where is this quote from. We can turn to Deuteronomy for this.

³And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.
Deuteronomy 8:3 KJV

So what would have been the big deal about Jesus eating something. I am not entirely sure but I think it has to do with completing the imagery of Israel wandering the desert. God speaks in puns and goes to great lengths to make those interlocking ideas throughout history impossible to deny his hand in. If Jesus ate it would have ruined an image to teach us.

This is also teaching us that scripture and the word of God should be consumed as often or perhaps more than we hunger for food. If God’s words are food for the soul that would be the natural conclusion.

⁵Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
Matthew 4:5 KJV

Now, I am not going to make a big thing of this right now. However, I want you to be sensitive to the idea that being like Satan, and the angels, and God, and even Jesus post death, can move in ways we cannot. We live in a three dimensional world. So we can go up and down, left and right, to and fro, however, they can do other movements. So this is some kind of supernatural movement. In an instant the devil took Jesus onto the pinnacle of the temple. This is not teleportation, this would be moving from one temporal place to another. Its confusing but we are recently discovering the possible methods through Quantum Mechanics.

⁶And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Matthew 4:6 KJV

Satan like in the garden of Eden to Eve is misquoting scripture. For this we turn to psalms.

¹¹For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
¹²They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Psalm 91:11-12 KJV

So we can see that a weapon of Satan is scripture but misquoting it as a weapon against you. If you notice Jesus began by quoting scripture as his retort. Satan said, oh, you know scripture, well perhaps I can convince you with scripture. Satan will feel for an opening like an expert boxer. As soon as he finds that weakness he is going to strike at it. The only defense for such a thing is to not take anyone’s word for anything and seek the truth before you believe it. Either that or educate yourself in all things so no one can ever give a misapplication of something to you. But we both know that is impossible.

⁷Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Matthew 4:7 KJV

So where is Jesus’s response from.

¹⁶Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Deuteronomy 6:16 KJV

So once again you see Jesus using the word of God to disarm Satan. There is nothing he can do to win that argument as long as Jesus quotes scripture as Satan knows better than to try at that angle. Christ knows better.

⁸Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
⁹And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Matthew 4:8-9 KJV

Pause, pause, right here, lets stop. What we just read is shocking! So Satan is tempting Jesus by showing him all the kingdoms of the world, the their glory, and then offered them if only he would worship Satan. How is that a temptation. Sounds really weak to me. After all God rules everything, right, right?

While yes God does rule everything, Satan is the god (little g) of this world. Which includes the nations within it. So who is controlling the earth’s governments? Oh, Satan. It is expressed right here. So why are we confused when our rulers do corrupt things, why does it shock us when they constantly collapse under their own desires? It is because the seat of the world is Satan’s, he commands. This is why this would be a temptation for Jesus. Jesus became man so he would experience temptation just like anyone else. He also knows of the wars and tragedies of the future. Perhaps much of it would have been averted but for what? So Satan can rule the world? How much worse would an unbridled Satan emperor be?

¹⁰Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Matthew 4:10 KJV

Jesus rejects him for God, hardening himself to face Satan, to ensure his eternal destruction and freedom from sin. So what is Jesus quoting, again we can look to Deuteronomy.

¹³Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Deuteronomy 6:13 KJV

Again we see that through faith and following scripture Satan has no power. It is only when we fall to his ploys that we become slave to him. Satan is like a drug dealer. He gives you just a taste for free, then you are addicted and cannot stop. Once you are his slave he can collect what is his and he will place people in your life that will keep you enslaved so you never see freedom from your sins.

¹¹Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
Matthew 4:11 KJV

Satan leaves after this. Which shows that Satan can only be in one place at one time. He is not like God who can be in all places at all times. Most likely frustrated and enraged by his failure. Someone as proud as Satan does not take defeat gently. After which angels came and ministered to Jesus. Jesus receiving ministry. Mister here is diēkonoun (διηκόνουν), which can mean minister but it also means to serve. So these angels were serving Jesus. Is this what happens in our own lives when we defeat temptation? Are we just not listening? What exactly did they say or do? I believe they informed Jesus of the goings on and brought him a meal after he competed the forty days.

Now roughly a year passes in Matthews narrative before he continues onto verse 12. The importance of this time passing was not important to Matthew but fun fact to know. This was the times at which Jesus is ministering in Judea.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

¹²Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
¹³And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
Matthew 4:12-13 KJV

Capernaum is by the sea of Galilee in the northeast.

¹⁴That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
¹⁵The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
¹⁶The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Matthew 4:14-16 KJV

Matthew is quoting Isaiah Chapter 9.

9 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
²The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Isaiah 9:1-2 KJV

So what is the point of mentioning this? Well, it shows that God foretold Jesus’s exact movements. Not only that but there are two tribes mentioned that have prophecies of their own; Zebulun and Naphtali.

¹³Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
Genesis 49:13 KJV

²¹Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
Genesis 49:21 KJV

It is true as well, Zebulun is a haven of ships still, and out of Naphtali Jesus came.

¹⁷From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:17 KJV

Now we see what Jesus’s ministry can be summarized as. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus Calls The First Disciples

¹⁸And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
¹⁹And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
²⁰And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
Matthew 4:18 KJV

I have to imagine that there is WAY more to the conversation than that. Are you really catching this image. Some guy walks up to you while you are working and says to you. Quit your job, follow me, here is a clever pun. And you are like OK sure that sounds great. This is either something divine or there is a lot more that is said and discussed and Jesus convinced them. Not quiet sure but seeing as how Thomas is not there yet, maybe they did just listen.

However, while colorful and amusing to imagine it this way, this is not the first time Jesus met these fellows John Chapter 1 tells of these men already being interested in Jesus as Messiah. They met him as well. So they were already familiar that Jesus is Christ.

Also this John is not John the baptist and this James is the brother of John. There are a few people named John and James, I will try to make it clear who is who.

²¹And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
²²And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
Matthew 4:21-22 KJV

So we can see that Jesus has gathered up his disciples and now really begins working his ministry. Not only teaching them in his ways but using them as witnesses. All of them willingly without much convincing followed Christ believing him to be just that. As to what form that would take it is unclear to them.

We also get a strange title here; “The Gospel of the Kingdom”. What is the “Gospel of the Kingdom”? Well, let’s break it down into the Greek to see what it is saying. The word for Gospel here is euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον) which literally means Good News. Kingdom here is basileias (βασιλείας) which means Kingdom, Sovereignty, Royal Power. So Jesus is preaching the “Good news of the royal power”. In the next few chapters we will be able to look at the contents of this “Good News” is.

Jesus Ministers To Great Crowds

²³And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
²⁴And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
Matthew 4:23-24 KJV

Today this portion of the world is called the Golan heights. You hear about this region a lot in the news these days. I think it is important to break these down. First let’s break down the illnesses by types. First is physical pathalogical illness, second is torments which are mental illnesses, poseessions which are spiritual illnesses brought on by demonic forces, more about that in a few. Lunatic has duel meanings, selēniazomenous (σεληνιαζομένους) in a more modern context is people who act odd from the moon. However, during this time it was epileptic seizures, they thought it had to do with the moon. Most likely because it induced a bright light in the dark which triggered some forms of episode. Then we have palsy which is parallelization, can’t move your limb(s).

So people brought every kind of illness to Jesus and he was healing them of their illnesses, also asking for donations of course cause tithing, I am kidding, he healed people for free, unlike a lot of the wolves we celebrate as preachers.

So onto the topic of demons. I want to mention this real quick. Demons are real, they are spiritual entities who we will encounter many times going ahead. I know to our modern sensibilities we do not worry about ghosts and spooks but make no mistake demons are actual things and they are actually trying to possess people.

²⁵And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
Matthew 4:25 KJV

Clearly everyone just followed Jesus around because of parlor tricks. All these healings were debunked by out proud and genius scientist. I mean the local paraplegic agreed to pretend he was messed up for years before. Or that guy who suffered from crippling depression is suddenly cured of it, that is all inside tricks. Oh and those sick people, it was just a cough. Right?

This is what a lot of people want you to believe. I don’t know how many times people tell me Jesus really was just a man and never did any real miracles, the people are just dumb. Oh, ok Sherlock. The people are dumb. Righto, I am going to go with common sense, a rare commodity might I add, and think that among all those people there are a few smart ones.

Now go and have a wonderful day, Christ is King and we have been saved of our sins. Rejoice, the world is going to be ok. Don’t let the news or current events tug at you. Just keep doing good for goodness sake.

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Bible Study, Ecclesial Studies, Matthew

Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 3

Posted on November 20, 2019March 31, 2021 by Jayce Ran

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Alright, so a lot has happened between Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. Roughly 30 years of things. So Jesus is most likely about 31/32 at this point in history. Figured I would explain that before we start.

John The Baptist Prepares The Way

1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Matthew 3:1 KJV

Ok so here we have John the Baptist. He is not the writer of the book of John. However, he is a member of the priesthood. Josephus, a Jewish Scholar, comments that he is not only an important religious figure to Christians but he is also revered in many other traditions.

So there is actually a lot of information we can gain from this verse. If John the Baptist is preaching in the wilderness that suggests that he had rejected the levitical priesthood. Most likely seeing the sickness that had entered into the Jewish traditions.

This also suggests that people would venture out into the wildness to have audience with him, as people really don’t live in the wilderness willingly. Basically his ministry is powerful.

²And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
³For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Matthew 3:2-3 KJV

Most likely John had heard of the rumors from Bethlahem and seeing the season of the times began ministering that the Messiah is walking among them. At the same time this is most likely why he had to preach in the wilderness. The synagogal high priests would have rejected such notions. John however clearly is telling you Isaiah told of the coming events. Luckily this prophecy is preserved.

1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
²Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
³The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
⁵And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Isaiah 40:1-5 KJV

As we can see from here we are given a clear image of what John is doing. He must have seen himself as the herold foretold or more likely was given a direct mission from God to perform this duty. So he went out preaching this message.

⁴And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
Matthew 3:4 KJV

From here we get an image of John. Every detail in the Bible is given for a reason. So this raises the question, why are these details given? Well, there is a parallel Matthew is making between John and Elijah.

⁸And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
2nd Kings 1:8 KJV

This is a clear parallel that Matthew is making clear by almost directly lifting the scriptual lines. Further we can see this allusion more clearly when you look a bit more into what happened to Elijah.

1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
²Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
³And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
⁴But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree…
1 Kings 19 KJV

We see Elijah fled to the wilderness after revealing God’s truth and slaying the child sacrificing priests of Baal, proving their god to be false. Is this allusion making a suggestion that like Elijah, John revealed the truth about the Messiah and was wanted by the Synagog priests? It makes me question if that is what John is suggesting.

If you notice he is eating clean as well, Locusts and wild honey are sacrimentally clean things to eat. We will discuss that more in the book of Leviticus, where the topic is more relevant.

⁵Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
⁶And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Matthew 3:5-6 KJV

So John ministered all over the place sending out his message to the people. Not only that but he was ritually clensing people, Baptizing. One problem, what is a baptism? When did this practice start, and why did he choose to do this?

We have the advantage of hearing baptism as a standard term however, this was not a thing during those times and times previous to this. So let’s look at what this ritual looks like.

So we have submerssion in water, a confession of sins and a ritual clensing of sin, generally Christian’s today do this to represent their “born again” status. So, what historic rituals were similar in the Jewish tradition.

So what we have here in baptism is something similar pointing to a confession of sin being part of the ritual clensing making the Mikveh less dominant and the confession of sin the more important place. The water being an icon of cleaning.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Matthew 3:7 KJV

Ok so there is a lot to break down here. So first a little background on Pharisees and Sadducees. For our modern convience think of these two as political parties.

Pharisees

They are Jewish ritualists who follow the tradition of the Babylonian Talmud. Legalistic to a fault. This is very much like Ahab’s views. So once again we see a parallel between John and Elijah in the Pharisees. They are also seperatists who believe that gentiles are like cattle (Goyim) to be ruled over. Their idea of the savior was someone who would utterly slaughter the whole world enslaving everyone under the Jewish system. These are not the traditions given by God to the Jewish people. They are very much against God in every way shape and form. During the time they would be considered on the Right on the political spectrum.

Sadducees

The Sadducees are a very much like the Pharisees in that they have no concern for God. In fact they have such little concern they have almost entirely given up on following any of the commands. They are humanistic in their views. They deny any inspiration to the word and simply hold it as old dusty books which really do not apply to their modern sensabilities. They are the political Left of today.

If what I just said bothers you, it should. Keep that in mind when you are watching the current events and ask yourself, are you following God or man. Are you on the right or the left, a republican or a democrat, are you a Pharisee or a Sadducee. Makes that binary choice look a little different now doesn’t it.

Now you may notice he calls them a den of vipers. Well vipers are pretty unsettling alone but a whole den of them, now that is something that will turn anyone’s stomach. Back in Genesis Chapter 3 there is a prophecy about that.

¹⁵And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:15

At first glance this may not seem relevant. However the people God is talking to is Satan and Adam and Eve. The seed of the woman is the seed of Jesus and by extension of Jewish people who preserved. The seed of the sepent, that is those who practice the mysteries through them they brought Satan’s religioun into the world.

In that subtle comment John is canvasing the Pharisees and Sadducees as followers of Satan not God. Even further there is refrence to a Synagog of Satan which will rise up and prevail in the end times; and be utterly destroyed by God, don’t forget he wins in the end.

⁸Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
⁹And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Matthew 3:8-9 KJV

Another strange statement from John. He is telling these people they are imposters and they are not children of Abraham and that their blood line means nothing to God.

²Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
³And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
⁴Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
⁵And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
Joshua 4:2-5 KJV

So they set up monuments to commemorate the crossing of the Jordan with the arc of the Covenenant. It seems a little bit like a stretch right.

⁶That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
⁷Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
Joshua 4:6-7 KJV

The lack of context anticipates you asking the question. What are these stones John mentions. These are a testiment to the sons of Israel. How fitting for them to be pointed out to display these are no longer the true sons of Israel but of Satan instead.

¹⁰And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
¹¹I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
¹²Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Matthew 3:10-12 KJV

So right now John is warning these Pharisees and Saddusees their time is suddenly about to come to an end. That their root will be cut out from the tree of life. That any tree bearing bad fruit will be destroyed. A coming judgement.

He also tells you that the water baptism is not a complete baptism, it is not sufficiant. This ritual carried on today is for image alone and has no power. It is simply done in memory of John and to emulate Jesus.

What John does tell us here that the one who is to come will perform a complete baptism. A baptism by fire from the Holy Spirit. The Shekaniah shall dwell within. This is what is called being a born again Christian and allow the Holy Spirit to enter us. He speaks of salvation, and permenant forgiveness and removal of sin.

This is also a double ontandra. God promises never to flood the earth with water again. The coming final judgement shall be with fire. So the bad bearing trees will be burned away to nothingness. A baptism which destroys sin from the world.

The Baptism Of Jesus

¹³Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
¹⁴But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
Matthew 3:13

John recognizes that his baptism is insufficiant, and unneeded. Before him is Jesus who was born without sin. The perfect man and the offering unto the Lord. However look at how Jesus answers him.

¹⁵And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Matthew 3:15 KJV

Jesus is telling him, he is setting an example to those that would follow him. That baptism must be done. This baptism is not for his sake however, but for our own. John knew how unclean he was internally, how pervers the idea of him baptising Jesus was. I can’t imagine the struggle and awkwardness of the moment. We are all naked before the LORD. There is nothing about us he does not know. Can you imagine someone knowing all your darkest deepest most hidden secrets asking you to perform a clensing. Especially when you know full well that he is the clenser, the only one that can clense anything.

¹⁶And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
¹⁷And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Matthew 3:16-17 KJV

This is the first time we see the Holy Spirit enter someone. God is showing an example through Jesus that baptism is the recieving of his spirit. However, this baptism was by water, the rest forward is by the fire of the spirit. Not saying I am against Water baptism, what I am saying is that it is ceremony alone, and not needed for salvation. The important part is accepting the Holy Spirit of God within you.

I pray this study is a blessing to you. Thank you for reading.

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Bible Study, Ecclesial Studies, Matthew

Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 1:17-25

Posted on November 3, 2019March 31, 2021 by Jayce Ran

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The Birth Of Christ

First thing I want to establish is the importance of the virgin birth. It would not be of any important details if not for God giving direct prophecy regarding this very subject. First instance we see of this in the Bible is back in Genesis chapter 3.

¹⁴And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
¹⁵And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:14-15 KJV

So here we see the declaration from God that he is going to destroy Satan for misleading Adam and Eve. He has cursed him. He says that he is going to put enmity between him and the woman and his seed and her seed. So we have a concept of the seed of the woman. Not only will her seed defeat Satan but it will crush his head. This also means that Satan has a bloodline here on earth. Think about that.

Now we also have another prophecy that makes it even clearer as well. God made sure there is absolutely no question about his method of bringing the redeemer.

¹⁰Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
¹Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
¹²But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.
¹³And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
¹⁴Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:10-14 KJV

So God declares not only will there be a virgin birth but he will be named Immanuel “Emmanuel”, God with us. I hope this establishes that there was prophecy written before his birth testifying to the direct nature of his coming to be.

Now I want to pause for a moment to look at who this is. Who is Immanuel because believe it or not we have a lot of information in the Bible about that subject; as if the whole thing was written about him.

Jesus did not come into being when Marry conceived. She is simply the vessel who carried him into flesh. We can see this demonstrated in John’s writings.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
²The same was in the beginning with God.
³All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:1-3 KJV

The word is another name for Christ Jesus this Immanuel. What John is suggesting here that God and Jesus existed before anything existed at all. In fact it is suggesting that Jesus made everything. So not only is he our savior but our creator as well. John makes this more clear as well a little further ahead in his introduction.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
¹¹He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
¹²But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴And 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 1:10-14 KJV

I wanted to point these verses out because it makes it expressly clear. Christ entered the world but was not part of the world and he preexisted the world and made the world. Not only that it expresses the word being made flesh furthering my point the word is another name for Christ Jesus.

I also want to instill upon you that every detail in his life and story was detailed before he was born. How would a God display his power, he will tell you the end from the beginning. That shows his temporal dominance over the dimensional nature of our existence.

Alright now that we got that out of the way let’s continue breaking it down verse by verse.

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
Matthew 1:17 KJV

This is pretty much a quick summary of what we covered last chapter. Matthew went through extensive detail listing the royal line through Joseph all the way back to Abraham.

From Abraham to David would be 1996 B.C. – 1085 B.C. and from David to the captivity of Israel would by 1085 B.C. – 588 B.C. and from the captivity to Jesus would be roughly 588 B.C. – 4 B.C. This will give you an understanding roughly how much time God chose to use.

¹⁸Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 1:18 KJV

Now you can imagine Joseph was a little shocked to say the least. You go to work for a few days and you come home to find your wife is with child, and not only is she with child but by the Holy Spirit non the less. Granted I imagine the conversation was a bit more heated and dramatic than that. We don’t get these details here however.

¹⁹Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
Matthew 1:19 KJV

A public example is a nice way of saying she would not be stoned or executed in some way. Adultery was at one point punishable by death. It would also bring a fair bit of difficulty for Joseph to defend her. I could imagine he would be very angry and have some issues with trusting his wife.

²⁰But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 1:20 KJV

God in his mercy saw that Joseph was troubled by this a great deal and decided it was best to reveal the truth. I believe he also did this for Mary’s sake as well. He could have chosen to show Joseph at the same time as Mary but he did not. The very fact that Joseph did not immediately throw her on the street for the courts to deal with her showed she could trust him with her very life. He indeed deeply loves her. Something that the both of them would need assurance of during the times to come.

²¹And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21 KJV

Now God names his son Jesus. He even gives Joseph the preview of what his son will achieve. He will save his people from their sins. Something every Hebrew at the time had been longing for. Under Roman rule things were not easy for the Jewish people.

²²Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
²³Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Matthew 1:22-23 KJV

We have the convenience of having a Bible, they however they did not. So instead of using a foot note they placed the text in their own writing. Kind of like what I am doing here.

²⁴Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
²⁵And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 1:24-25 KJV

So Joseph took this revelation very seriously. This is a beautiful thing. We ask that things be taken on faith. They had it laid before them, however if you ask me faith is far more merciful than the trials they had to endure. Sometimes we say how nice would it have been to be with Jesus during those times. Yes, it would have been nice at times, however other parts of those times was hideous. Most likely you would have been executed for your faith in Christ as well. The worst of it everyone else saw the things you did too. However, still they denied and hated those who followed. Now the only thing we have to worry about here is a troll posting a few memes or someone squawking. Consider yourself lucky you live in the age of grace.

With that I hope you all have a wonderful day and a better tomorrow. Christ is born and he is risen and he is coming again.

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Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 1:1-17

Posted on November 2, 2019March 31, 2021 by Jayce Ran

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A dust storm had erupted out of thin air. The gale was whistling so heavy it felt like sandpaper across my face. I could not see two feet in front of me as I wrestled against the roar that had come upon us so abruptly. “I can’t go on like this.” I howled to Vanity as I choked on the ferocious storm.

The beginning of Matthew is pretty much a family tree showing Jesus’s lineage to Abraham. This is important because of multiple prophecies stating Christ would be born from the Hebrew line. Not only that but further Christ would be of the line of David. Matthew being a publican, he would be characteristically detailed in legal matters. Being a Hebrew himself he would understand the importance of such a break down of lineage.

The text demonstrates the human heritage of Christ. Not only they but the relationship he had with other men. Furthermore he had a past the lead up to him and it is demonstrated that God knows the end from the beginning. In Christ’s birth a multitude of prophecies were fulfilled. Even further it demonstrates he is the heir to the throne of David, a throne he will sit upon in the coming kingdom.

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew 1:1 KJV

The first thing that is apparent from an English language prospective is the reference of Jesus being the son of David and David being the son of Abraham. In the Hebrew language there is no separation of grandfather from father or grandson from son. Those words are not in their vocabulary so a father or grandfather or even great great great great grandfather is father and vise versa for mother and daughter as well.

^{²Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;}
Matthew 1:2 KJV

Verse 2 has nothing really too interesting about it, the whole thing is pretty much straight forward, but verse 3 is another story.

^{³And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;}
Matthew 1:3 KJV

You may notice that Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar. When all the others do not mention who the children came from but rather stayed to the father and son line. Matthew bothers to make a note of Phares and Zara’s mother, Thamar. To understand why this is a bit out of the ordinary we need to turn to Genesis 38 where this event happened.

I will summarize the events of the chapter for you but feel free to read the whole thing for yourself.

Judah or Judas, intermarried with a Canaanite woman named Shuah. They had three sons together named Er, Onan, and Shelah. Thamar or “Tamar” was the wife of Er. However, Er before he could consummate a child with Tamar died by God’s hand; he was wicked before the LORD. Whatever that means… I may go into a study on that on it’s own sometime. I digress though.

Now historically something called a Levirite marriage happened. It was the responsibility of the brother of a widows husband to take care of her and take her on as his wife. Odam however, refused to consummate with her by using the “pull out method”. This also displeased God enough that he smites him dead too.

Judah then promised her that Shelah would marry her once he became of age. Now God clearly had aspirations for her as shown in the text. People are dying because of their actions and not only that but by God’s own hand. Keep that in mind when things are going wrong in your own life. Is it God leading you in another direction?

Time passes and Judah does not wed Thamar to his son Shelah, SO, she tricks Judah into sleeping with her by dressing as a prostitute in secret. As payment he agrees to give this prostitute a goat. Tamar however asks for his seal and staff as collateral for the goat. Judah agrees and leaves to get the goat. However, when he returns she is gone.

Three months later Jacob finds out Thamar is pregnant and he is pissed. He sends for her and wants to have her burned alive. This was not an uncommon punishment for adultery in the ancient world. HOWEVER, when she is presented to him she bore his SEAL and STAFF. Which he put two and two together realizing she was the prostitute he slept with.

A bit of drama ensues and she is pregnant with his twin children; Pharas “Perez” and Zara “Zerah”. Legally they are illegitimate children.

So from this point in the genealogy we are outside of the line of Judah. Which is a huge problem! Why? Well, in Deuteronomy (Deut 23:2) there is a Levitical law forbidding a bastard child from being considered part of the “Congregation of the LORD” or a Hebrew. In fact it takes 10 generations from that point for ANY of the offspring of that line to be considered proper Hebrews.

So let’s count. Pharez 1, Hezron 2, Ram 3, Amminadab 4, Nahshon 5, Salmon 6, Boaz 7, Obed 8, Jesse 9, David 10. King David is generation 10. King David is the first legitimate son of Judah from that line. So now that we have solved that issue let’s continue.

^{⁴And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;}
⁵And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
Matthew 1:4-5 KJV

Now you may notice once again we have the mother mentioned. Booz “Boaz” of Rachab “Rahab”. So who is Rahab and why is she mentioned? Rahab is the gentile mother of Boaz. This is covered in the Book of Ruth.

^{⁶And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;}
Matthew 1:6 KJV

Once again an interesting statement pops up. Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias. Urias is the poor bloke who David sent to war in the front line to ensure his death. Basically the guy David had murdered. Her name is Bathsheba.

^{⁷And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;}
⁸And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
Matthew 1:7-8 KJV

This is a good point to take pause. Unless you study the Old Testament closely you will entirely miss that some of the names are completely missing from the genealogy here. Ahaziah son of Joram, Joash son of Ahaziah, and Amaziah or Uzziah son of Joash. They abandoned God and brought idolatry into Jerusalem. God literally had them blotted out from the text here to emphasis how much he despises such things.

^{⁹And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;}
¹⁰And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
¹¹And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
Matthew 1:9-10 KJV

So, this is an interesting note. Josias did not begat Jechonias, actually is was Jehoiakim who begat Jechonias and Jeconiah did not have any brothers. So what is this issue, it is a curse put upon them from God actually.

²⁴As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
²⁵And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
²⁶And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
²⁷But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
²⁸Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
²⁹O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.
³⁰Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
Jeremiah 22:24-30 KJV

Coniah is another name used for Jechonis. So he is cursed. Big deal.

^{¹²And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;}
Matthew 1:12 KJV

Now Salathiel was not the biological father of Zorobabel but instead he adopted him. This breaks the blood curse placed upon his family. The line can continue by legal rite over blood rite.

From this point forward we have a straight shot to Jesus with nothing all that confusing coming in the way.

¹³And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
¹⁴And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
¹⁵And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
¹⁶And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.
Matthew 1:13-17 KJV

Now if you noticed I made it a point of pointing out Matthew’s background in legal matters. There is a good reason he pointed all this out. Judaism and Mosaic law is very detailed and meticulous about inheritance laws. For this set of events to have played forth it would seem as if those laws were written for this specific scenario.

First lets take a look at Numbers 27:7-11

⁶And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
^{⁷The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.}
⁸And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.
⁹And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.
¹⁰And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren.
¹¹And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lo
Numbers 27:6-11 KJV

We can see a few of these instances in the genealogy above. Further a tradition existed that husbands are also adopted by the brides father. SO, what is all this about. Well, it is to show Joseph carries the royal line with prophecies; the genealogy of Joseph fits with the hundreds of other prophecies about Christs birth and the regulations on the royal line.

Normally I don’t like to split up chapters but I feel like this is a good place to stop for now and the next time we study together we will go over the rest of the chapter taking a look at the virgin birth in detail.

Jayce Ran's Sweet Insanity

Jayce Ran's Sweet Insanity

Fiction you can cling to!

Tag: Bible

Which Bible Is Right For You?

Bible Study: Luke Chapter 4

Bible Study: Luke Chapter 3

Bible Study: Luke Chapter 2

Bible Study: Luke Chapter 1

Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 5:1-11 (The Beatitudes)

The Beatitudes

Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 4

The Temptation Of Jesus

Jesus Begins His Ministry

Jesus Calls The First Disciples

Jesus Ministers To Great Crowds

Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 3

John The Baptist Prepares The Way

The Baptism Of Jesus

Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 1:17-25

The Birth Of Christ

Bible Study: Matthew Chapter 1:1-17

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ