Christian Study

Scripture is always true. Christ said of the Jewish leaders of His day,

“But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.”, John 10:26

We know from history and the Jew’s own admission in John 8 that most of the Jewish leaders of Christ’s day were of Esau/Edom whom God hates.

Today’s Jews include Esau/Edom. “Edom is in modern Jewry”, The Jewish Encyclopedia.

Remember your grandparents or uncles telling stories about Jews? I remember hearing about two Jews fighting over a penny making the first wire. Those stories were not told to be mean. They were told to teach a warning to the children about the continual behavior of the Jews. They do not share Christian morals.

Christ didn’t say they couldn’t believe because they had not become sheep. Christ said they could not believe because they were not and are not sheep. The modern day Jews are not Israelites. Christ’s word is always true.

John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

1 Corinthians 5:8 “Therefore let us keep the feast”.

We spiritualize it away. Christ is our Passover. A historical record stated that the apostle John taught churches to remember the Passover by taking communion. Easter’s roots are pagan. Spiritualizing scripture destroys its meaning.

The word generation is another word that has been misunderstood in scripture. Sometimes it is translated from the Greek G1074. That is associated with age as in a period of time. Sometimes it is translated from G1085 which means kin. A few times it is translated from G1081 which is fruit with a root word of offspring. The actual source Greek word is where we get the English word for genetics. In the Hebrew it is more common to find it translated from a couple words that mean age as in a period of time of the life of a people.

One of the definitions for generation may be less known. “All of the offspring of about the same stage of life from a common ancestor.” It seems that the ideas of kin and age are connected. When one sees the word generation in scripture it is important to remember that it is referring to a common group of people, family line or race.

Growing up Catholic we were taught that only theologians could understand scripture. In seminary we were also discouraged from the study of scripture. Scripture teaches that this idea of understanding is false. This teaching, shared by some Protestant denominations as well, keeps people ignorant of God’s word. God wants us to know his word, not so much church doctrine. Read scripture daily and pray for understanding.

2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Luck 12:47 “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.”

God considered He was married to true Israel.

Isaiah 54:5 “For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called.”

More of the story is in Ezekiel 23, Romans 7:1-4, Jeremiah 3:8 and easily a couple dozen other passages as well. It is the greatest continuing love story found in scripture.

It is important to know the source of quotes in Scripture. The reader is expected to know the meaning behind a quote from the old testament.

1 Peter 1:16 “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

The quote is from Leviticus 11:44, God’s health laws, the food laws. The implication is that being holy is effected by what we eat. Therefore the question, can one be holy before God as commanded in 1 Peter 1:16 and still eat pork?