June - Reading 10

Good afternoon -

Our Scriptures in our schedule for today are:

Luke 3:21-38

Ephesians 5:1-21

Psalm 119:73-80

1 Kings 15-16

May God bless the reading of His Word.

 

Good evening -

In our reading of 1Kings tonight, following the text is a little confusing, IMO. I searched around and found a chart that shows the timeline of the parallel kingdoms' kings that may make things a bit clearer:
http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/xian/bible/timeline.html
The one piece of commentary I wll add for these readings tonight is that the Lord seems to get quite upset over the use of Ashera wood for poles (14:15, 15:13). According to the NIV study notes, the use of this wood was represenative of the goddess Ashera, the consort of El (Exodus 34:13).

What I liked in our reading of Luke this evening is the names that popped up that we have already read. It really kind of ties all of our studies together.

In Ephesians, Paul sets forth some hard instructions for us as Christians to follow. The reference to the "fragrant offering" stems from the Old Testament Scriptures that deal with the sacrifices (Genesis 8:21, Exodus 29:18, etc.). This passage tonight sums up, IMO, the philosophy of Christianity. I read this passage several times, despite its simplicity, just to re-affirm its message.

May God bless you

- Clint

 

Hi Gwyneth -

The Historian (author of Kings) refers to three outside sources several times throughout 1&2 Kings, namely, "the book of the acts of Solomon", " the chronicles of the kings of Israel", " the chronicles of the kings of Judah," (or however your particular version translates the titles). All three of these manuscripts have been lost to us through time but we can safely assume that they were exhaustive political, social and/or economic histories of the reigns of select kings or dynasties. It has also been surmised that one or more of them may have been court records from the era.

While the Historian may have drawn (and probably did) on these resources in his analysis of the rise and fall of the Hebrew monarchy, his purpose was not to give a detailed political history but rather a theological synopsis of why the Kingdoms fell and why his original audience, the Jewish exiles, had come to be where they were and just as importantly where they could expect to go.

As an example of the Historian bypassing significant events in political history, Omri would be considered by most historians as a very important leader. He established Samaria as the capitol city of Israel and built a powerful dynasty. According to the Moabite stone he subjugated the Moabites to the Northern Kingdom and Assyrian rulers of the time in their documents referenced Jehu as "the son of Omri." Yet for all this political success, the Historian all but dismisses him with a mere six verses of mention (1Kings 16:23-28).

Another example is found in the account of Josiah. Though the Historian spends a great deal of parchment speaking about the covenantal renewal under his reign (2Kings 22:3-23:28) he mentions nothing of his opposition to Pharaoh Neco of Egypt at Megiddo nor of the shift of power that resulted from this between the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

Instead his focus remains on the reigns that caused a major falling away, i.e. Ahab, Jereboam, etc., or those that were more geared towards the renewal of the Siniatic Covenant such as Josiah and Hezekiah.

Therefore, he references his readers to other documentation available at the time, such as "the book of the annals of the kings of Judah" if they wished to further investigate these kings. His purpose remained centered on the subject of the waxing and waning apostasy of the Israelite and Judean kings.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but I hope it answers your question.

 

Sunday School lecture 9/19/04 conclusion

Luke 3:21-22 The Baptism of Jesus

It is at this point in the Scriptures that the scholars and theologians begin the real debate. Since John taught a "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins," why did Jesus Christ ask for baptism? In the earliest years of Christianity, some of John's followers contended that this showed a superiority of John to Christ, possibly one of the tasks that Luke sought to "set in order." Each Gospel approaches the subject differently. Mark is brief and merely mentions the incident. Matthew notes the strong reluctance of John to carry out the task. John completely omits it. Luke separates the baptism of Christ from that of the other people and does not mention John's name in connection with it.

Luke makes three distinct points in verses 21-22:
1. The baptism of Jesus followed that of all the people.
2. The descent of the Spirit followed the baptism
3. This experience occurred while Jesus was praying.

All four Gospels testify that the Spirit descended as a dove. This designation of God's Spirit as a dove is unusual in Biblical terms. Luke removes the possibility of a metaphorical interpretation by saying that the Spirit descended in "bodily form (KJV - bodily shape)".

The voice in verse 22 is very similar to the version of Isaiah 42:1 in Matthew 12:18. This would identify Jesus as the Suffering Servant and the Messiah. The baptism of Jesus signifies His public commitment for God's Will for His life. The baptism also set Christ into the community of believers who would become Christians. It should also not be discounted that the Mosaic Law required that priests wash themselves with water before entering office as shown in Exodus 29:4.

Luke 3:23-38 The Genealogy

Luke tells us that Jesus was "about 30" when He began His ministry. Scholars have speculated over the exact age but there is nothing conclusive. They believe that He was at least 32 and possibly as old as 36. Luke's vagueness concerning the age leaves room as to specifics.

Thirty was, however, a significant age for the religious Jews. Aside from the traditions that grew around the age, Numbers 4:47 teaches us that 30 was the age that a Levite entered service. Luke's mention of Christ's age establishes that He had fulfilled all the requirements necessary to begin ministry in the Mosaic system. Now as a qualifier as to Messiahship, he traces his lineage back through David, back through Abraham, back through Adam, and finally to God.

As noted in our look at Matthew 1, the genealogies of the two inspired authors differ from David to Christ. Luke had already confirmed the virgin birth and there was no need to reiterate at this point. The assumption taken by some that the genealogy here is of Mary would require that we take the phrase "as was supposed of Joseph" as parenthetical. Luke, however, makes no mention of Mary in this account, an odd omission from a Gospel that focuses so strongly on women, and tracing lineage through a woman would have been highly irregular.

On the other hand we do have other Biblical examples of in-laws being referenced as direct kin (Ruth 1:11) and descent from David in the case of Mary would fulfill the prophecies "as concerning the flesh" (Romans 1:3). The discrepancy between Matthew's and Luke's genealogies will not be completely resolved this day.

http://www.studylight.org/com/jfb/view.cgi?book=lu&chapter=003
http://www.studylight.org/com/bnn/view.cgi?book=mt&chapter=001

The significant feature of the genealogy, however, is not in the distinction from David to Jesus, but rather the inclusion of all mankind through Adam. The genealogy concludes with God, from whom we all inherit the promise made to Eve in Genesis 3:15 and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

 

The Scriptures for 6/11 are:

Luke 4:1-12

Ephesians 5:22-33

Psalm 119:81-88

1 Kings 17-18

 

The Scriptures for 6/11 are:

Luke 4:1-12

Ephesians 5:22-33

Psalm 119:81-88

1 Kings 17-18

 

The Scriptures for 6/11 are:

Luke 4:1-12

Ephesians 5:22-33

Psalm 119:81-88

1 Kings 17-18

 

The Scriptures for 6/11 are:

Luke 4:1-12

Ephesians 5:22-33

Psalm 119:81-88

1 Kings 17-18

 

The Scriptures for 6/11 are:

Luke 4:1-12

Ephesians 5:22-33

Psalm 119:81-88

1 Kings 17-18