Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "separation"
Defensible Divorce? – Part 1
Among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. They pledged to put away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their offense [Ezra 10:18-19].
For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel [Malachi 2:16].
“Hey, lookee at that! There’s a right proper contradiction in the Bible for you. I just proved the Bible has errors in it. So take that, God!”
Such is the blather of the run-of-the-mill atheist and skeptic. Suchlike fellows just refuse to bow the knee to the God of the universe. So they sniff out all the recesses in Scripture, in search of the lost error. They are determined to find it, so guess what? They find it!
Uh, not so fast my dear sir. With what contradiction are you regaling us, at this Bible bash you’re throwing for all your birds of a feather? I don’t see any contradiction.
“Well, then you can’t read, you bozo!” blusters our supercilious snob. “Just read the two quotations at the beginning of this study, and you can’t miss it. God ordered the Jews of Ezra’s day to divorce their wives, but in Malchi’s day He got mad at them for doing just that! He went so far as to thunder, ‘I hate divorce!’ So there.”
And then our self-styled savant parks his haunches on a comfy recliner, face glowing with pride and every pore oozing with conceit, self-satisfied that he has the last word. He is the man! He sits on God’s throne, now that he’s disenfranchised God.
Oh hum. Yawn. Zzzzzzzz. I still don’t see the supposed contradictions, you vain man. But not to worry. I have just the medicine you need for what ails you. It’s Rule #1 for Bible study, sir. It states, “A text without a context is a pretext.” Chew on it overnight and call me in the morning. Once the medicine runs its course, your eyesight will be sharp enough to see your blunder.
Let’s put the situation in Ezra’s day into context, shall we? The Israelites incessantly sinned against the Lord and refused to repent, so finally He sent them into exile in Babylon. Their crime? They worshiped the gods of the pagan peoples around them. This was spiritual adultery because they belonged to the Lord.
After the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Medes and Persians, the Israelites were permitted to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. During this period many of the Jews married some of the pagan women in the land. The Law of Moses specifically forbade this.
It was the cause of so much of the idolatry which put them into Babylonian exile in the first place. If we don’t learn from history, we’re bound to repeat it.
We must take our rest at this roadside arbor and be refreshed by time alone with the Lord Jesus. Tomorrow we will bring this topic to a proper conclusion.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel [Malachi 2:16].
“Hey, lookee at that! There’s a right proper contradiction in the Bible for you. I just proved the Bible has errors in it. So take that, God!”
Such is the blather of the run-of-the-mill atheist and skeptic. Suchlike fellows just refuse to bow the knee to the God of the universe. So they sniff out all the recesses in Scripture, in search of the lost error. They are determined to find it, so guess what? They find it!
Uh, not so fast my dear sir. With what contradiction are you regaling us, at this Bible bash you’re throwing for all your birds of a feather? I don’t see any contradiction.
“Well, then you can’t read, you bozo!” blusters our supercilious snob. “Just read the two quotations at the beginning of this study, and you can’t miss it. God ordered the Jews of Ezra’s day to divorce their wives, but in Malchi’s day He got mad at them for doing just that! He went so far as to thunder, ‘I hate divorce!’ So there.”
And then our self-styled savant parks his haunches on a comfy recliner, face glowing with pride and every pore oozing with conceit, self-satisfied that he has the last word. He is the man! He sits on God’s throne, now that he’s disenfranchised God.
Oh hum. Yawn. Zzzzzzzz. I still don’t see the supposed contradictions, you vain man. But not to worry. I have just the medicine you need for what ails you. It’s Rule #1 for Bible study, sir. It states, “A text without a context is a pretext.” Chew on it overnight and call me in the morning. Once the medicine runs its course, your eyesight will be sharp enough to see your blunder.
Let’s put the situation in Ezra’s day into context, shall we? The Israelites incessantly sinned against the Lord and refused to repent, so finally He sent them into exile in Babylon. Their crime? They worshiped the gods of the pagan peoples around them. This was spiritual adultery because they belonged to the Lord.
After the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Medes and Persians, the Israelites were permitted to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. During this period many of the Jews married some of the pagan women in the land. The Law of Moses specifically forbade this.
It was the cause of so much of the idolatry which put them into Babylonian exile in the first place. If we don’t learn from history, we’re bound to repeat it.
We must take our rest at this roadside arbor and be refreshed by time alone with the Lord Jesus. Tomorrow we will bring this topic to a proper conclusion.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Defensible Divorce? – Part 2
Among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. They pledged to put away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their offense [Ezra 10:18-19].
For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel [Malachi 2:16].
The Israelites were dispatched to Babylon as slaves in exile. It was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Their crime? Spiritual adultery, sleeping with the enemy, worshiping the gods of the heathen peoples around them, with its concomitant religious sex with the female devotees.
From the first chapter of the Bible to the last, the Lord teaches the “doctrine of separation”. It teaches that what is unclean makes what is clean to become unclean, and what is profane defiles what is holy so that the holy becomes profane too. Ergo, the people of the Lord (the holy) must not forge binding ties with the people of the devil (the profane). This is especially true of marriage ties.
Consequently, when the Lord insisted His kids in Ezra’s day divorce their heathen wives, two sins were involved. One was the violation of His Law, the other divorce. Separation was mandatory, which compelled the divorce. God’s kids had no right to marry heathen women to begin with. That had to be set right, which required the divorce.
So the Lord didn’t change His mind and suddenly “like” divorce. He ALWAYS HATES divorce. But it is non-negotiable that the Lord’s kids cannot have binding ties with the devil’s kids, so divorce was a necessary evil to set aright the wrong of intermarriage with unbelievers, a worse evil.
In Malachi’s day the situation was very different. Many Jews were divorcing their Jewish wives in order to marry heathen women! Even a blind man can see the difference between Malachi’s situation and Ezra’s. Let’s itemize it for clarity.
• God’s kids can marry only God’s kids
• God’s kids cannot marry the devil’s kids
• God’s kids divorcing the devil’s kids makes right the wrong of marrying the devil’s kids
• God’s kids divorcing God’s kids makes wrong what was right
Now remember the context, please. This applied to the Israelites in Old Testament Israel under the Law of Moses. It was the Law of the land, their legal code. It was never given to the Gentiles or the Church. (That’s us.)
What is applicable to the Christian is the “doctrine of separation” (cf., 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Christians are not to marry unbelievers. However, if a Christian is wrongly married to an unbeliever, and if that unbeliever doesn’t prevent the Christian from practicing his/her faith, then the Christian is to remain in the marriage (cf., 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).
So it is, you see, that apparent contradictions in the Bible are just that, apparent! They are contradictions in appearance only, not in reality. We must always read the Bible in context, dear friends. God does hate divorce. He established marriage as the foundational institution of society.
Contrariwise, the devil loves divorce. He wants to destroy society and render futile everything God builds. This serves as an indisputable symptom in diagnosing whether I am walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. Do I approve of divorce, or do I hate divorce?
Divorce is pandemic in today’s society. This should tell us what type of society we live in. I’ll give you a hint: the word christ is in it, but the word is preceded by a prefix spelled a-n-t-i. We must choose sides, and not in word only but also in deed. What say ye?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel [Malachi 2:16].
The Israelites were dispatched to Babylon as slaves in exile. It was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Their crime? Spiritual adultery, sleeping with the enemy, worshiping the gods of the heathen peoples around them, with its concomitant religious sex with the female devotees.
From the first chapter of the Bible to the last, the Lord teaches the “doctrine of separation”. It teaches that what is unclean makes what is clean to become unclean, and what is profane defiles what is holy so that the holy becomes profane too. Ergo, the people of the Lord (the holy) must not forge binding ties with the people of the devil (the profane). This is especially true of marriage ties.
Consequently, when the Lord insisted His kids in Ezra’s day divorce their heathen wives, two sins were involved. One was the violation of His Law, the other divorce. Separation was mandatory, which compelled the divorce. God’s kids had no right to marry heathen women to begin with. That had to be set right, which required the divorce.
So the Lord didn’t change His mind and suddenly “like” divorce. He ALWAYS HATES divorce. But it is non-negotiable that the Lord’s kids cannot have binding ties with the devil’s kids, so divorce was a necessary evil to set aright the wrong of intermarriage with unbelievers, a worse evil.
In Malachi’s day the situation was very different. Many Jews were divorcing their Jewish wives in order to marry heathen women! Even a blind man can see the difference between Malachi’s situation and Ezra’s. Let’s itemize it for clarity.
• God’s kids can marry only God’s kids
• God’s kids cannot marry the devil’s kids
• God’s kids divorcing the devil’s kids makes right the wrong of marrying the devil’s kids
• God’s kids divorcing God’s kids makes wrong what was right
Now remember the context, please. This applied to the Israelites in Old Testament Israel under the Law of Moses. It was the Law of the land, their legal code. It was never given to the Gentiles or the Church. (That’s us.)
What is applicable to the Christian is the “doctrine of separation” (cf., 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Christians are not to marry unbelievers. However, if a Christian is wrongly married to an unbeliever, and if that unbeliever doesn’t prevent the Christian from practicing his/her faith, then the Christian is to remain in the marriage (cf., 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).
So it is, you see, that apparent contradictions in the Bible are just that, apparent! They are contradictions in appearance only, not in reality. We must always read the Bible in context, dear friends. God does hate divorce. He established marriage as the foundational institution of society.
Contrariwise, the devil loves divorce. He wants to destroy society and render futile everything God builds. This serves as an indisputable symptom in diagnosing whether I am walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. Do I approve of divorce, or do I hate divorce?
Divorce is pandemic in today’s society. This should tell us what type of society we live in. I’ll give you a hint: the word christ is in it, but the word is preceded by a prefix spelled a-n-t-i. We must choose sides, and not in word only but also in deed. What say ye?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Silver Jewelry and Missing Noses – Part 1
Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith. Take away the wicked before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness [Proverbs 25:4-5].
There is an old expression, an aphorism if you would, which states, “That’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face!” Indeed. Sometimes when things we don’t like are so irksome, we go to extremes to be rid of them…even to our own detriment.
Such is not the case with the spiritual truth taught us in the Bible verses quoted at the start of this study. In fact the exact opposite is the case. It isn’t our nose we should cut off and remove from our presence, in order to be rid of troubling circumstances. It’s the troublemakers and instigators who need to be sent packing. And that’s a good thing.
The first verse quoted makes reference to metallurgy. The silversmith takes the precious silver ore and melts it in his furnace. The molten metal collects at the bottom of the furnace in a crucible. Floating on top the molten metal is the impure residue that is lighter than the pure metal, which is why it floats on top. This residue is known as “dross”.
In order to work with a purer form of silver, the silversmith must scrape off this top layer of dross. This leaves the pure silver for making jewelry and other assorted silver items. Without the dross the silver is much more valuable, and accordingly so are the silver items made from the pure silver.
Such items even have a noticeably more appealing appearance. No one would buy “silver” jewelry made from silver with the dross not removed, if it was placed side-by-side with silver jewelry made from pure silver. Ugh! The dross is disgusting!
This was the point the writer wanted to make, when he penned Proverbs 25. Verses 4 and 5 employ the Biblical Hebrew poetic form of synonymous parallelism. Let me define this technical term for you.
Today we tend to rhyme words at the end of two lines and identify the result as “poetry”. The Hebrews of the Bible didn’t rhyme words at the end of lines for their poetry. They rhymed ideas between lines to create poetry.
When the ideas were of things which were comparable, then the parallel ideas received the jargon synonymous parallelism. When the ideas presented a contrast between things, the parallel ideas were labeled antonymous parallelism.
The hour is late and the shadows are fast overtaking us. We will pause and refresh ourselves in the presence of the Lord at this time, and take up this topic tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
There is an old expression, an aphorism if you would, which states, “That’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face!” Indeed. Sometimes when things we don’t like are so irksome, we go to extremes to be rid of them…even to our own detriment.
Such is not the case with the spiritual truth taught us in the Bible verses quoted at the start of this study. In fact the exact opposite is the case. It isn’t our nose we should cut off and remove from our presence, in order to be rid of troubling circumstances. It’s the troublemakers and instigators who need to be sent packing. And that’s a good thing.
The first verse quoted makes reference to metallurgy. The silversmith takes the precious silver ore and melts it in his furnace. The molten metal collects at the bottom of the furnace in a crucible. Floating on top the molten metal is the impure residue that is lighter than the pure metal, which is why it floats on top. This residue is known as “dross”.
In order to work with a purer form of silver, the silversmith must scrape off this top layer of dross. This leaves the pure silver for making jewelry and other assorted silver items. Without the dross the silver is much more valuable, and accordingly so are the silver items made from the pure silver.
Such items even have a noticeably more appealing appearance. No one would buy “silver” jewelry made from silver with the dross not removed, if it was placed side-by-side with silver jewelry made from pure silver. Ugh! The dross is disgusting!
This was the point the writer wanted to make, when he penned Proverbs 25. Verses 4 and 5 employ the Biblical Hebrew poetic form of synonymous parallelism. Let me define this technical term for you.
Today we tend to rhyme words at the end of two lines and identify the result as “poetry”. The Hebrews of the Bible didn’t rhyme words at the end of lines for their poetry. They rhymed ideas between lines to create poetry.
When the ideas were of things which were comparable, then the parallel ideas received the jargon synonymous parallelism. When the ideas presented a contrast between things, the parallel ideas were labeled antonymous parallelism.
The hour is late and the shadows are fast overtaking us. We will pause and refresh ourselves in the presence of the Lord at this time, and take up this topic tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Silver Jewelry and Missing Noses – Part 2
Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith. Take away the wicked before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness [Proverbs 25:4-5].
We paused in our last lesson by noting that v.4 and v.5 of Proverbs 25 were written in the form of synonymous parallelism. Let’s continue in that vein now.
The two verses of Proverbs with which we have to do in this study present comparable things, so they are in the form of synonymous parallelism. Let’s diagram the two verses for clarity’s sake.
A. take away the dross from the silver
B. and there comes out a vessel for the smith
A. take away the wicked before the king
B. and his throne will be established in righteousness
Notice the letters “A” and “B” which precede each line. The first “A” and “B” diagram verse 4, while the second “A” and “B” do the same for verse 5. The phrases which are preceded by “A” are parallel, and that by way of comparability (i.e., synonymously). The phrases preceded by “B” are also comparable. Let’s vet this issue now.
The “dross” of v.4 is comparable to the “wicked” of verse 5, while the “silver” of v.4 is comparable to the “king” of verse 5. By the same manner silver is purified and made fit to serve its purpose (i.e., for jewelry products, etc.), in this way is a king made fit to serve his purpose of ruling his subjects righteously.
Silver is purified by removing the dross, and a king’s rule is purified (i.e., made righteous) by removing the wicked (i.e., the unrighteous) from his presence. When the wicked are dispatched out of the king’s presence, they cannot influence him to rule in an unrighteous manner.
This teaching is a reaffirmation of the Biblical doctrine of separation. You’ve heard the expression, “What we eat is what we are.” It is equally true that those with whom we choose to associate establishes who we are. Bad company corrupts good morals (cf., 1 Corinthians 15:33).
In order not to be duped into living for self and the world and the devil, the Word of God calls for us to come out from their presence and live apart from them (i.e., separation). I direct you to read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 for a straightforward presentation of this spiritual truth.
This leaves us standing at a crossroads, dear friends. Now that we’ve been confronted with the Word of God about separation from the world and its ways, what response will we make to what He just taught us? Will we say “Amen, Lord!” and make necessary changes in our lifestyle? Or will we leave it in the church building or the prayer closet and continue on as before?
What say ye? Shall it be living for self or shall we live for the Lord in accordance with the Bible? Only one way is right, as Proverbs 25:4-5 taught us today. I trust you will make the right choice.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We paused in our last lesson by noting that v.4 and v.5 of Proverbs 25 were written in the form of synonymous parallelism. Let’s continue in that vein now.
The two verses of Proverbs with which we have to do in this study present comparable things, so they are in the form of synonymous parallelism. Let’s diagram the two verses for clarity’s sake.
A. take away the dross from the silver
B. and there comes out a vessel for the smith
A. take away the wicked before the king
B. and his throne will be established in righteousness
Notice the letters “A” and “B” which precede each line. The first “A” and “B” diagram verse 4, while the second “A” and “B” do the same for verse 5. The phrases which are preceded by “A” are parallel, and that by way of comparability (i.e., synonymously). The phrases preceded by “B” are also comparable. Let’s vet this issue now.
The “dross” of v.4 is comparable to the “wicked” of verse 5, while the “silver” of v.4 is comparable to the “king” of verse 5. By the same manner silver is purified and made fit to serve its purpose (i.e., for jewelry products, etc.), in this way is a king made fit to serve his purpose of ruling his subjects righteously.
Silver is purified by removing the dross, and a king’s rule is purified (i.e., made righteous) by removing the wicked (i.e., the unrighteous) from his presence. When the wicked are dispatched out of the king’s presence, they cannot influence him to rule in an unrighteous manner.
This teaching is a reaffirmation of the Biblical doctrine of separation. You’ve heard the expression, “What we eat is what we are.” It is equally true that those with whom we choose to associate establishes who we are. Bad company corrupts good morals (cf., 1 Corinthians 15:33).
In order not to be duped into living for self and the world and the devil, the Word of God calls for us to come out from their presence and live apart from them (i.e., separation). I direct you to read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 for a straightforward presentation of this spiritual truth.
This leaves us standing at a crossroads, dear friends. Now that we’ve been confronted with the Word of God about separation from the world and its ways, what response will we make to what He just taught us? Will we say “Amen, Lord!” and make necessary changes in our lifestyle? Or will we leave it in the church building or the prayer closet and continue on as before?
What say ye? Shall it be living for self or shall we live for the Lord in accordance with the Bible? Only one way is right, as Proverbs 25:4-5 taught us today. I trust you will make the right choice.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Vegetarian Delight – Part 1
Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see [Daniel 1:12-13].
I love pizza. But it’s got to be the real thing, if you know what I mean. No, I don’t mean it has to be genuine Italian-made, or deep dish from Chicago. I mean it has to be sausage…period. Well, okay. It can have crust too, and cheese and sauce. But anything else on pizza nullifies the “pizza” part of the food!
Daniel and his three friends were minding their own business in Jerusalem back in the day. For you novices, that would be the day of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’m sure those four dudes were enjoying some kosher sausage pizza. Well, maybe not because sausage isn’t kosher! This is especially so for Italian sausage, er, I mean Babylonian sausage.
Anyway, along came ol’ King Cole, er, I mean ol’ King Neb. Accompanying our king-of-the-day was his army, a formidable bunch to be sure. When the dust cleared Daniel & friends no longer lived in Jerusalem. They had moved to Babylon, where they had the not so enviable job of waiting on ol’ King Neb and fulfilling his every fickle whim.
As slaves of the king their food came from the king’s kitchen. The king even assigned one of his stewards to be in charge of Daniel & friends. The steward was responsible to see that Daniel & friends learned the ropes of living in Babylon and waiting on ol’ King Neb.
Part of this responsibility required the steward to be sure Daniel & friends were strong and healthy. He had to make them brush their teeth before bed and wash behind their ears. Okay, I made that part up. But the steward did have to provide the four Hebrews with food from the king’s table. After all, if it kept ol’ King Neb healthy, it had to be good for his foreign slaves too.
Here’s the thing. Ol’ King Neb and all the Babylonians were idolators. They presented their food to idols as offerings of worship. The false gods of Babylon received their portion of the food, and the remainder was enjoyed at the table of ol’ King Neb and his servants.
This created a major conflict for Daniel & friends. They were Hebrews who worshiped the one true God Whose name is YHWH (or Yahweh or Jehovah). As any card-carrying Hebrew could tell you, only YHWH could be worshiped. He alone is God and He demanded to receive all the worship from His people. It was on pain of death for any Hebrew to partake in pagan worship of idols.
Still, ol’ King Neb was in charge of Daniel & friends, now that they had been carted off from Jerusalem as slaves to ol’King Neb. And he was quite content to worship his idols, thank you very much. So it wouldn’t have been wisdom for Daniel & friends to denounce Neb’s gods and refuse to eat the food offered in sacrifice to those false gods. Not because the idols would wreak their vengeance on the Hebrews, mind you. But ol’ King Neb would!
This presented a real conundrum for Daniel & friends. They just couldn’t bring themselves to desert the one true God YHWH, but they still had to get along with ol’ King Neb and his pantheon of gods. What to do? What to do? Hmm. That’s a toughie.
We’ll return same time same station tomorrow to finish the show. See you then. Enjoy some time with the Lord Jesus in the interim.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I love pizza. But it’s got to be the real thing, if you know what I mean. No, I don’t mean it has to be genuine Italian-made, or deep dish from Chicago. I mean it has to be sausage…period. Well, okay. It can have crust too, and cheese and sauce. But anything else on pizza nullifies the “pizza” part of the food!
Daniel and his three friends were minding their own business in Jerusalem back in the day. For you novices, that would be the day of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I’m sure those four dudes were enjoying some kosher sausage pizza. Well, maybe not because sausage isn’t kosher! This is especially so for Italian sausage, er, I mean Babylonian sausage.
Anyway, along came ol’ King Cole, er, I mean ol’ King Neb. Accompanying our king-of-the-day was his army, a formidable bunch to be sure. When the dust cleared Daniel & friends no longer lived in Jerusalem. They had moved to Babylon, where they had the not so enviable job of waiting on ol’ King Neb and fulfilling his every fickle whim.
As slaves of the king their food came from the king’s kitchen. The king even assigned one of his stewards to be in charge of Daniel & friends. The steward was responsible to see that Daniel & friends learned the ropes of living in Babylon and waiting on ol’ King Neb.
Part of this responsibility required the steward to be sure Daniel & friends were strong and healthy. He had to make them brush their teeth before bed and wash behind their ears. Okay, I made that part up. But the steward did have to provide the four Hebrews with food from the king’s table. After all, if it kept ol’ King Neb healthy, it had to be good for his foreign slaves too.
Here’s the thing. Ol’ King Neb and all the Babylonians were idolators. They presented their food to idols as offerings of worship. The false gods of Babylon received their portion of the food, and the remainder was enjoyed at the table of ol’ King Neb and his servants.
This created a major conflict for Daniel & friends. They were Hebrews who worshiped the one true God Whose name is YHWH (or Yahweh or Jehovah). As any card-carrying Hebrew could tell you, only YHWH could be worshiped. He alone is God and He demanded to receive all the worship from His people. It was on pain of death for any Hebrew to partake in pagan worship of idols.
Still, ol’ King Neb was in charge of Daniel & friends, now that they had been carted off from Jerusalem as slaves to ol’King Neb. And he was quite content to worship his idols, thank you very much. So it wouldn’t have been wisdom for Daniel & friends to denounce Neb’s gods and refuse to eat the food offered in sacrifice to those false gods. Not because the idols would wreak their vengeance on the Hebrews, mind you. But ol’ King Neb would!
This presented a real conundrum for Daniel & friends. They just couldn’t bring themselves to desert the one true God YHWH, but they still had to get along with ol’ King Neb and his pantheon of gods. What to do? What to do? Hmm. That’s a toughie.
We’ll return same time same station tomorrow to finish the show. See you then. Enjoy some time with the Lord Jesus in the interim.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Vegetarian Delight – Part 2
Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see [Daniel 1:12-13].
Daniel and his three friends were slaves to ol’ King Neb of Babylon. He fed them food offered in sacrifice to his idols, a violation of God’s commandment against idolatry. They wanted a menu of only vegetables and water, but the person in charge of their food was afraid it would leave them sickly and he’d lose his head for it.What to do? It was a toughie.
Actually it wasn’t. It just took a bit of godly wisdom on Daniel’s part. He knew the Lord would help them not to defile themselves with the king’s food because they belonged to Him first and to ol’ King Neb a distant second. So Daniel asked the king’s steward in charge if he would feed him and his three Hebrew buddies only vegetables and water.
It’s like this. The heathens didn’t offer their gods vegetables and water. Ergo, any vegetables and water eaten by Daniel & friends would not have been sacrificed to the false gods of Babylon. Hence Daniel & friends would not be defiled by eating vegetables and drinking water. They would maintain their ritual purity, thus maintaining their relationship with the one true God YHWH.
But anyone of us who has lived for more than a day knows things seldom go as planned. The steward was loath to agree to Daniel’s menu request, notwithstanding how tactfully it was presented. He feared that vegetables and water alone would leave the Hebrews weak and sickly in appearance. In that case the Queen of Hearts, er, I mean ol’ King Neb would demand, “Off with his head!”
Refusing to take “No!” for an answer, Daniel deftly offered a test to prove the validity of his request. “Allow my three friends and me, O steward, to eat only vegetables and water for ten days. Then examine us to determine if we are healthy or sickly.” The steward took the bait, and the Hebrews had their kosher food for ten days.
Ten days came and ten days went, and the steward came too. He eyeballed the four Hebrews and couldn’t believe his eyes. The Hebrews ate only vegetables and water for ten days, while all the other slaves-in-training feasted on the rich food from the king’s table. Nonetheless the four Hebrews appeared much healthier than the other slaves, sporting a ruddy complexion and a sanguine disposition.
The steward figured he just hit the mother lode! It was a free pass into the good graces of the king. By his own astute judgment and wisdom the four Hebrews excelled all the others. He was a master chef par excellence. The king would be so proud of him…or that’s the way he planned to spin the tale anyway.
So the steward persisted with fetching vegetables and water as the Hebrew’s victuals, and the Hebrews persisted in growing healthy and wise. In fact it wasn’t long before Daniel was second in command in Babylon, and his three friends were not far below him either.
The moral of the story is a good one. Serve the Lord regardless of the consequences. He alone is God. There is none other. At the same time don’t be obnoxious in serving Him. Our service to the Lord Jesus is to be done in a way which represents Him, not our bad attitudes! If we reflect Him to others, they will be given two choices: either receive Him as their Savior or else reject Him.
In any case their decision will be vis-à-vis Him, not us personally. If they refuse to receive, it will be Him they reject. And the chances of them accepting Him go up exponentially, if only we have the wisdom to keep self in the background and Jesus on the front burner.
So let’s learn the moral to this story and exalt the Lord Jesus. Sounds like a plan. Let’s do it!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Daniel and his three friends were slaves to ol’ King Neb of Babylon. He fed them food offered in sacrifice to his idols, a violation of God’s commandment against idolatry. They wanted a menu of only vegetables and water, but the person in charge of their food was afraid it would leave them sickly and he’d lose his head for it.What to do? It was a toughie.
Actually it wasn’t. It just took a bit of godly wisdom on Daniel’s part. He knew the Lord would help them not to defile themselves with the king’s food because they belonged to Him first and to ol’ King Neb a distant second. So Daniel asked the king’s steward in charge if he would feed him and his three Hebrew buddies only vegetables and water.
It’s like this. The heathens didn’t offer their gods vegetables and water. Ergo, any vegetables and water eaten by Daniel & friends would not have been sacrificed to the false gods of Babylon. Hence Daniel & friends would not be defiled by eating vegetables and drinking water. They would maintain their ritual purity, thus maintaining their relationship with the one true God YHWH.
But anyone of us who has lived for more than a day knows things seldom go as planned. The steward was loath to agree to Daniel’s menu request, notwithstanding how tactfully it was presented. He feared that vegetables and water alone would leave the Hebrews weak and sickly in appearance. In that case the Queen of Hearts, er, I mean ol’ King Neb would demand, “Off with his head!”
Refusing to take “No!” for an answer, Daniel deftly offered a test to prove the validity of his request. “Allow my three friends and me, O steward, to eat only vegetables and water for ten days. Then examine us to determine if we are healthy or sickly.” The steward took the bait, and the Hebrews had their kosher food for ten days.
Ten days came and ten days went, and the steward came too. He eyeballed the four Hebrews and couldn’t believe his eyes. The Hebrews ate only vegetables and water for ten days, while all the other slaves-in-training feasted on the rich food from the king’s table. Nonetheless the four Hebrews appeared much healthier than the other slaves, sporting a ruddy complexion and a sanguine disposition.
The steward figured he just hit the mother lode! It was a free pass into the good graces of the king. By his own astute judgment and wisdom the four Hebrews excelled all the others. He was a master chef par excellence. The king would be so proud of him…or that’s the way he planned to spin the tale anyway.
So the steward persisted with fetching vegetables and water as the Hebrew’s victuals, and the Hebrews persisted in growing healthy and wise. In fact it wasn’t long before Daniel was second in command in Babylon, and his three friends were not far below him either.
The moral of the story is a good one. Serve the Lord regardless of the consequences. He alone is God. There is none other. At the same time don’t be obnoxious in serving Him. Our service to the Lord Jesus is to be done in a way which represents Him, not our bad attitudes! If we reflect Him to others, they will be given two choices: either receive Him as their Savior or else reject Him.
In any case their decision will be vis-à-vis Him, not us personally. If they refuse to receive, it will be Him they reject. And the chances of them accepting Him go up exponentially, if only we have the wisdom to keep self in the background and Jesus on the front burner.
So let’s learn the moral to this story and exalt the Lord Jesus. Sounds like a plan. Let’s do it!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Defensible Divorce? – Part 1
Among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. They pledged to put away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their offense [Ezra 10:18-19].
For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel [Malachi 2:16].
“Hey, lookee at that! There’s a right proper contradiction in the Bible for you. I just proved the Bible has errors in it. So take that, God!”
Such is the blather of the run-of-the-mill atheist and skeptic. Suchlike fellows just refuse to bow the knee to the God of the universe. So they sniff out all the recesses in Scripture, in search of the lost error. They are determined to find it, so guess what? They find it!
Uh, not so fast my dear sir. With what contradiction are you regaling us, at this Bible bash you’re throwing for all your birds of a feather? I don’t see any contradiction.
“Well, then you can’t read, you bozo!” blusters our supercilious snob. “Just read the two quotations at the beginning of this study, and you can’t miss it. God ordered the Jews of Ezra’s day to divorce their wives, but in Malachi’s day He got mad at them for doing just that! He went so far as to thunder, ‘I hate divorce!’ So there.”
And then our self-styled savant parks his haunches on a comfy recliner, face glowing with pride and every pore oozing with conceit, self-satisfied that he has the last word. He is the man! He sits on God’s throne, now that he’s disenfranchised God.
Oh hum. Yawn. Zzzzzzzz. I still don’t see the supposed contradictions, you vain man. But not to worry. I have just the medicine you need for what ails you. It’s Rule #1 for Bible study, sir. It states, “A text without a context is a pretext.” Chew on it overnight and call me in the morning. Once the medicine runs its course, your eyesight will be sharp enough to see your blunder.
Let’s put the situation in Ezra’s day into context, shall we? The Israelites incessantly sinned against the Lord and refused to repent, so finally He sent them into exile in Babylon. Their crime? They worshiped the gods of the pagan peoples around them. This was spiritual adultery because they belonged to the Lord.
After the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Medes and Persians, the Israelites were permitted to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. During this period many of the Jews married some of the pagan women in the land. The Law of Moses specifically forbade this. It was the cause of so much of the idolatry which put them into Babylonian exile in the first place. If we don’t learn from history, we’re bound to repeat it.
We must take our rest at this roadside arbor and be refreshed by time alone with the Lord Jesus. Tomorrow we will bring this topic to a proper conclusion.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel [Malachi 2:16].
“Hey, lookee at that! There’s a right proper contradiction in the Bible for you. I just proved the Bible has errors in it. So take that, God!”
Such is the blather of the run-of-the-mill atheist and skeptic. Suchlike fellows just refuse to bow the knee to the God of the universe. So they sniff out all the recesses in Scripture, in search of the lost error. They are determined to find it, so guess what? They find it!
Uh, not so fast my dear sir. With what contradiction are you regaling us, at this Bible bash you’re throwing for all your birds of a feather? I don’t see any contradiction.
“Well, then you can’t read, you bozo!” blusters our supercilious snob. “Just read the two quotations at the beginning of this study, and you can’t miss it. God ordered the Jews of Ezra’s day to divorce their wives, but in Malachi’s day He got mad at them for doing just that! He went so far as to thunder, ‘I hate divorce!’ So there.”
And then our self-styled savant parks his haunches on a comfy recliner, face glowing with pride and every pore oozing with conceit, self-satisfied that he has the last word. He is the man! He sits on God’s throne, now that he’s disenfranchised God.
Oh hum. Yawn. Zzzzzzzz. I still don’t see the supposed contradictions, you vain man. But not to worry. I have just the medicine you need for what ails you. It’s Rule #1 for Bible study, sir. It states, “A text without a context is a pretext.” Chew on it overnight and call me in the morning. Once the medicine runs its course, your eyesight will be sharp enough to see your blunder.
Let’s put the situation in Ezra’s day into context, shall we? The Israelites incessantly sinned against the Lord and refused to repent, so finally He sent them into exile in Babylon. Their crime? They worshiped the gods of the pagan peoples around them. This was spiritual adultery because they belonged to the Lord.
After the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Medes and Persians, the Israelites were permitted to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. During this period many of the Jews married some of the pagan women in the land. The Law of Moses specifically forbade this. It was the cause of so much of the idolatry which put them into Babylonian exile in the first place. If we don’t learn from history, we’re bound to repeat it.
We must take our rest at this roadside arbor and be refreshed by time alone with the Lord Jesus. Tomorrow we will bring this topic to a proper conclusion.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Defensible Divorce? – Part 2
Among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. They pledged to put away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their offense [Ezra 10:18-19].
For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel [Malachi 2:16].
The Israelites were dispatched to Babylon as slaves in exile. It was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Their crime? Spiritual adultery, sleeping with the enemy, worshiping the gods of the heathen peoples around them, with its concomitant religious sex with the female devotees.
From the first chapter of the Bible to the last, the Lord teaches the “doctrine of separation”. It teaches that what is unclean makes what is clean to become unclean, and what is profane defiles what is holy so that the holy becomes profane too. Ergo, the people of the Lord (the holy) must not forge binding ties with the people of the devil (the profane). This is especially true of marriage ties.
Consequently, when the Lord insisted His kids in Ezra’s day divorce their heathen wives, two sins were involved. One was the violation of His Law, the other divorce. Separation was mandatory, which compelled the divorce. God’s kids had no right to marry heathen women to begin with. That had to be set right, which required the divorce.
So the Lord didn’t change His mind and suddenly “like” divorce. He ALWAYS HATES divorce. But it is non-negotiable that the Lord’s kids cannot have binding ties with the devil’s kids, so divorce was a necessary evil to set aright the wrong of intermarriage with unbelievers, a worse evil.
In Malachi’s day the situation was very different. Many Jews were divorcing their Jewish wives in order to marry heathen women! Even a blind man can see the difference between Malachi’s situation and Ezra’s. Let’s itemize it for clarity.
• God’s kids can marry only God’s kids
• God’s kids cannot marry the devil’s kids
• God’s kids divorcing the devil’s kids makes right the wrong of marrying the devil’s kids
• God’s kids divorcing God’s kids makes wrong was right
Now remember the context, please. This applied to the Israelites in Old Testament Israel under the Law of Moses. It was the Law of the land, their legal code. It was never given to the Gentiles or the Church. (That’s us.)
What is applicable to the Christian is the “doctrine of separation” (cf., 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Christians are not to marry unbelievers. However, if a Christian is wrongly married to an unbeliever, and if that unbeliever doesn’t prevent the Christian from practicing his/her faith, then the Christian is to remain in the marriage (cf., 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).
So it is, you see, that apparent contradictions in the Bible are just that, apparent! They are contradictions in appearance only, not in reality. We must always read the Bible in context, dear friends. God does hate divorce. He established marriage as the foundational institution of society.
Contrariwise, the devil loves divorce. He wants to destroy society and render futile everything God builds. This serves as an indisputable symptom in diagnosing whether I am walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. Do I approve of divorce, or do I hate divorce?
Divorce is pandemic in today’s society. This should tell us what type of society we live in. I’ll give you a hint: the word christ is in it, but the word is preceded by a prefix spelled a-n-t-i. We must choose sides, and not in word only but also in deed. What say ye?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel [Malachi 2:16].
The Israelites were dispatched to Babylon as slaves in exile. It was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Their crime? Spiritual adultery, sleeping with the enemy, worshiping the gods of the heathen peoples around them, with its concomitant religious sex with the female devotees.
From the first chapter of the Bible to the last, the Lord teaches the “doctrine of separation”. It teaches that what is unclean makes what is clean to become unclean, and what is profane defiles what is holy so that the holy becomes profane too. Ergo, the people of the Lord (the holy) must not forge binding ties with the people of the devil (the profane). This is especially true of marriage ties.
Consequently, when the Lord insisted His kids in Ezra’s day divorce their heathen wives, two sins were involved. One was the violation of His Law, the other divorce. Separation was mandatory, which compelled the divorce. God’s kids had no right to marry heathen women to begin with. That had to be set right, which required the divorce.
So the Lord didn’t change His mind and suddenly “like” divorce. He ALWAYS HATES divorce. But it is non-negotiable that the Lord’s kids cannot have binding ties with the devil’s kids, so divorce was a necessary evil to set aright the wrong of intermarriage with unbelievers, a worse evil.
In Malachi’s day the situation was very different. Many Jews were divorcing their Jewish wives in order to marry heathen women! Even a blind man can see the difference between Malachi’s situation and Ezra’s. Let’s itemize it for clarity.
• God’s kids can marry only God’s kids
• God’s kids cannot marry the devil’s kids
• God’s kids divorcing the devil’s kids makes right the wrong of marrying the devil’s kids
• God’s kids divorcing God’s kids makes wrong was right
Now remember the context, please. This applied to the Israelites in Old Testament Israel under the Law of Moses. It was the Law of the land, their legal code. It was never given to the Gentiles or the Church. (That’s us.)
What is applicable to the Christian is the “doctrine of separation” (cf., 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Christians are not to marry unbelievers. However, if a Christian is wrongly married to an unbeliever, and if that unbeliever doesn’t prevent the Christian from practicing his/her faith, then the Christian is to remain in the marriage (cf., 1 Corinthians 7:12-16).
So it is, you see, that apparent contradictions in the Bible are just that, apparent! They are contradictions in appearance only, not in reality. We must always read the Bible in context, dear friends. God does hate divorce. He established marriage as the foundational institution of society.
Contrariwise, the devil loves divorce. He wants to destroy society and render futile everything God builds. This serves as an indisputable symptom in diagnosing whether I am walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. Do I approve of divorce, or do I hate divorce?
Divorce is pandemic in today’s society. This should tell us what type of society we live in. I’ll give you a hint: the word christ is in it, but the word is preceded by a prefix spelled a-n-t-i. We must choose sides, and not in word only but also in deed. What say ye?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Silver Jewelry and Missing Noses – Part 1
Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith. Take away the wicked before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness [Proverbs 25:4-5].
There is an old expression, an aphorism if you would, which states, “That’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face!” Indeed. Sometimes when things we don’t like are so irksome, we go to extremes to be rid of them…even to our own detriment.
Such is not the case with the spiritual truth taught us in the Bible verses quoted at the start of this study. In fact the exact opposite is the case. It isn’t our nose we should cut off and remove from our presence, in order to be rid of troubling circumstances. It’s the troublemakers and instigators who need to be sent packing. And that’s a good thing.
The first verse quoted makes reference to metallurgy. The silversmith takes the precious silver ore and melts it in his furnace. The molten metal collects at the bottom of the furnace in a crucible. Floating on top the molten metal is the impure residue that is lighter than the pure metal, which is why it floats on top. This residue is known as “dross”.
In order to work with a purer form of silver, the silversmith must scrape off this top layer of dross. This leaves the pure silver for making jewelry and other assorted silver items. Without the dross the silver is much more valuable, and accordingly so are the silver items made from the pure silver.
Such items even have a noticeably more appealing appearance. No one would buy “silver” jewelry made from silver with the dross not removed, if it was placed side-by-side with silver jewelry made from pure silver. Ugh! The dross is disgusting!
This was the point the writer wanted to make, when he penned Proverbs 25. Verses 4 and 5 employ the Biblical Hebrew poetic form of synonymous parallelism. Let me define this technical term for you.
Today we tend to rhyme words at the end of two lines and identify the result as “poetry”. The Hebrews of the Bible didn’t rhyme words at the end of lines for their poetry. They rhymed ideas between lines to create poetry.
When the ideas were of things which were comparable, then the parallel ideas received the jargon synonymous parallelism. When the ideas presented a contrast between things, the parallel ideas were labeled antonymous parallelism.
The hour is late and the shadows are fast overtaking us. We will pause and refresh ourselves in the presence of the Lord at this time, and take up this topic tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
There is an old expression, an aphorism if you would, which states, “That’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face!” Indeed. Sometimes when things we don’t like are so irksome, we go to extremes to be rid of them…even to our own detriment.
Such is not the case with the spiritual truth taught us in the Bible verses quoted at the start of this study. In fact the exact opposite is the case. It isn’t our nose we should cut off and remove from our presence, in order to be rid of troubling circumstances. It’s the troublemakers and instigators who need to be sent packing. And that’s a good thing.
The first verse quoted makes reference to metallurgy. The silversmith takes the precious silver ore and melts it in his furnace. The molten metal collects at the bottom of the furnace in a crucible. Floating on top the molten metal is the impure residue that is lighter than the pure metal, which is why it floats on top. This residue is known as “dross”.
In order to work with a purer form of silver, the silversmith must scrape off this top layer of dross. This leaves the pure silver for making jewelry and other assorted silver items. Without the dross the silver is much more valuable, and accordingly so are the silver items made from the pure silver.
Such items even have a noticeably more appealing appearance. No one would buy “silver” jewelry made from silver with the dross not removed, if it was placed side-by-side with silver jewelry made from pure silver. Ugh! The dross is disgusting!
This was the point the writer wanted to make, when he penned Proverbs 25. Verses 4 and 5 employ the Biblical Hebrew poetic form of synonymous parallelism. Let me define this technical term for you.
Today we tend to rhyme words at the end of two lines and identify the result as “poetry”. The Hebrews of the Bible didn’t rhyme words at the end of lines for their poetry. They rhymed ideas between lines to create poetry.
When the ideas were of things which were comparable, then the parallel ideas received the jargon synonymous parallelism. When the ideas presented a contrast between things, the parallel ideas were labeled antonymous parallelism.
The hour is late and the shadows are fast overtaking us. We will pause and refresh ourselves in the presence of the Lord at this time, and take up this topic tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Silver Jewelry and Missing Noses – Part 2
Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith. Take away the wicked before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness [Proverbs 25:4-5].
We paused in our last lesson by noting that v.4 and v.5 of Proverbs 25 were written in the form of synonymous parallelism. Let’s continue in that vein now.
The two verses of Proverbs with which we have to do in this study present comparable things, so they are in the form of synonymous parallelism. Let’s diagram the two verses for clarity’s sake.
A. take away the dross from the silver
B. and there comes out a vessel for the smith
A. take away the wicked before the king
B. and his throne will be established in righteousness
Notice the letters “A” and “B” which precede each line. The first “A” and “B” diagram verse 4, while the second “A” and “B” do the same for verse 5. The phrases which are preceded by “A” are parallel, and that by way of comparability (i.e., synonymously). The phrases preceded by “B” are also comparable. Let’s vet this issue now.
The “dross” of v.4 is comparable to the “wicked” of verse 5, while the “silver” of v.4 is comparable to the “king” of verse 5. By the same manner silver is purified and made fit to serve its purpose (i.e., for jewelry products, etc.), in this way is a king made fit to serve his purpose of ruling his subjects righteously.
Silver is purified by removing the dross, and a king’s rule is purified (i.e., made righteous) by removing the wicked (i.e., the unrighteous) from his presence. When the wicked are dispatched out of the king’s presence, they cannot influence him to rule in an unrighteous manner.
This teaching is a reaffirmation of the Biblical doctrine of separation. You’ve heard the expression, “What we eat is what we are.” It is equally true that those with whom we choose to associate establishes who we are. Bad company corrupts good morals (cf., 1 Corinthians 15:33).
In order not to be duped into living for self and the world and the devil, the Word of God calls for us to come out from their presence and live apart from them (i.e., separation). I direct you to read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 for a straightforward presentation of this spiritual truth.
This leaves us standing at a crossroads, dear friends. Now that we’ve been confronted with the Word of God about separation from the world and its ways, what response will we make to what He just taught us? Will we say “Amen, Lord!” and make necessary changes in our lifestyle? Or will we leave it in the church building or the prayer closet and continue on as before?
What say ye? Shall it be living for self or shall we live for the Lord in accordance with the Bible? Only one way is right, as Proverbs 25:4-5 taught us today. I trust you will make the right choice.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
We paused in our last lesson by noting that v.4 and v.5 of Proverbs 25 were written in the form of synonymous parallelism. Let’s continue in that vein now.
The two verses of Proverbs with which we have to do in this study present comparable things, so they are in the form of synonymous parallelism. Let’s diagram the two verses for clarity’s sake.
A. take away the dross from the silver
B. and there comes out a vessel for the smith
A. take away the wicked before the king
B. and his throne will be established in righteousness
Notice the letters “A” and “B” which precede each line. The first “A” and “B” diagram verse 4, while the second “A” and “B” do the same for verse 5. The phrases which are preceded by “A” are parallel, and that by way of comparability (i.e., synonymously). The phrases preceded by “B” are also comparable. Let’s vet this issue now.
The “dross” of v.4 is comparable to the “wicked” of verse 5, while the “silver” of v.4 is comparable to the “king” of verse 5. By the same manner silver is purified and made fit to serve its purpose (i.e., for jewelry products, etc.), in this way is a king made fit to serve his purpose of ruling his subjects righteously.
Silver is purified by removing the dross, and a king’s rule is purified (i.e., made righteous) by removing the wicked (i.e., the unrighteous) from his presence. When the wicked are dispatched out of the king’s presence, they cannot influence him to rule in an unrighteous manner.
This teaching is a reaffirmation of the Biblical doctrine of separation. You’ve heard the expression, “What we eat is what we are.” It is equally true that those with whom we choose to associate establishes who we are. Bad company corrupts good morals (cf., 1 Corinthians 15:33).
In order not to be duped into living for self and the world and the devil, the Word of God calls for us to come out from their presence and live apart from them (i.e., separation). I direct you to read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 for a straightforward presentation of this spiritual truth.
This leaves us standing at a crossroads, dear friends. Now that we’ve been confronted with the Word of God about separation from the world and its ways, what response will we make to what He just taught us? Will we say “Amen, Lord!” and make necessary changes in our lifestyle? Or will we leave it in the church building or the prayer closet and continue on as before?
What say ye? Shall it be living for self or shall we live for the Lord in accordance with the Bible? Only one way is right, as Proverbs 25:4-5 taught us today. I trust you will make the right choice.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
