Posted by: thaishin | April 12, 2019

How was the old testament canon recognized?

Question on moody radio open line program on March 23, 2019 with Dr Michael Rydelnik, Dr Jim Coakley, Steven Sanchez.

How was the old testament canon recognized?

Michael Rydelnik:

I am going to jump in here. I had the authoritative expert in a course that I took in Seminary, he wrote the book “General introduction to the bible”, he wrote the book “From God to us”. His name is Norman Geisler. He’s quite a respected person. I think one of the things that he said about canon is especially important. We talk about all this different test of canonicity but the main thing that he said is that when books of the bible were written, the people of God immediately received them as the word of God. It wasn’t like we are going to test this one out to see if this is the word of God. It was immediately received as the word of God. That’s why I don’t think the books of the Hebrew bible were the literature of Israel, they were not. They were the literature of the remnant of Israel, books written to the faithful of Israel to give them the word of God and they immediately received it as such and then they passed it on and as the books were received, they were added to this collection of books and of course there was the guy that I think was most significant and Rabbinic writings says he’s significant as well, I think the bible says he’s significant and that’s Ezra. Ezra’s the guy, he’s the biblical author and he put it all together in the final form in what the Hebrew bible is supposed to be. I want to jump in with the passage that I think is pretty important for understanding this, it’s from Ezra chapter 7 verse 10, Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, the Torah, and then it says to obey it and to teach its statutes and ordinances of Israel. The interesting thing about the word obey there, it can mean to form it. I think he wanted to obey it but what he did was that he studied the Torah,  Torah was the word that refers to the law of Moses but it could be expansive to the whole Hebrew bible and he formed it, he put the final shape to everything and under the superintending of the Holy Spirit and then taught it to Israel. So that’s why I would conjecture that the close of the bible happens at that point.

Steven Sanchez:

I think it is important to remember that the people of Israel, speaking specifically of the Hebrew bible, they were already trained to listen to the voice of God. They knew this before they came into the land. There are going to be other voices speaking. God tells them, you might have a prophet that comes and tell you to worship another God and they ask, How will we know? He give them some test, their ears were already tuned as they were and so when a prophet shows up, he says things that are theologically accurate,  they welcomed that as the word of God. It’s not a committee sitting there saying I wonder should this be included or that one. They hear it , they know what it is and they keep it. The other things they put to the side.

Ezra 7

10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.  -nkjv

 

 

 

 

Leave a Comment

Posted in Bible, Old Testament

Posted by: thaishin | April 5, 2019

How do you define canon?

Moody Radio openline program  on March 23, 2019:

Tricia Mcmillan with the question:

Can you define canon? That’s kind of what we are going to talk about. What is the canon?

Dr Steven Sanchez:

We are not talking about weaponry here. We are talking about a word that means a measuring rod, some sort. The word’s suggestion is a stick, an instrument that is used to measure things and now by extension, by metaphor, that becomes a way of describing either the books that measure up to a certain standard or the books that become the measuring standard by which we measure other things.

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

People use the word canon, talking about the canon of scriptures, the books that should be in the bible. The way people use it, they should understand it because I hear students talk about the canon of Star Wars …

Dr Steven Sanchez:

Or the canon of Western literature ..

Dr Michael Rydelnik:

We are talking which are the key books people should read in western literature or we are talking about the canon of the Star Wars movies, or when we are talking books of the bible, we are saying these are those that are the Word of God. This is the inspired scripture. We are talking about the old testament canon and we are talking about the new testament canon. Which books were included in the bible, that’s what we are talking when we are talking canon.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Bible

Posted by: thaishin | March 29, 2019

Why is God’s love in the past tense?

Question from moody radio listener on March 25, 2019 on In the Market with Janet Parshall with Dr Sam Storms:

Yeah, I was just wondering if Doctor would share his understanding as to why in John 3:16, Jesus refers to God’s love for the world in the past tense? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son rather than God so loves the world, present that He gave His Son.

Answer from Dr Sam Storms:

Neal, that’s a very important distinction you’ve drawn there, you know the fact of the matter is very rarely does the New Testament talks about God’s love in the present tense. It’s almost always in the past tense, that’s because typically it’s a reference back to the cross of Christ, you know it’s in the past for us and it was in the past for those who wrote the New Testament. I think what he’s probably doing there in John 3:16 is alluding to the love that God has for fallen sinners before the foundation of the world, so for example, we read in Ephesians 1 that in love, he predestined us for adoption, all that he says was before the foundation of the world, the one place, real quickly I can give you, where the love of God is talked about in the present tense is in Revelation chapter 1.

Break

Janet Parshall:

Neal from Ohio, I thank you for sticking around because you asked such a great question, an important but hefty question about speaking about God’s love in the past tense, God so loved the world, referencing John 3:16, as suppose to the present tense and Dr Storms,  you’ve just going up to a verse in Revelation but I want to give you now all the time that you need because I do think it’s a most intriguing question, please continue …

Dr Sam Storms:

Yeah, it is a good question. I do think that John 3:16 talks about in the past tense because he’s connecting it with a decision to give us Christ, for God so loved the world that He gave and it really wouldn’t make much sense, if God so loves us that he gives because his Son is already been given in the past, died for us and rose from the dead, very much the same thing in 1 John 4:10, where it says that it’s not that we have loved God but He loved us, past tense and send His son for the propitiation for our sins, so I do think that in all likelihood, what we are talking about here is what Paul mentioned in Ephesians 1:4, where he talked about God loving us before the foundation of the world and determining to send his Son for the sacrifice of our sins. But, having said that,  go to Revelation 1:5 and you will read that where it says Jesus loves us, present tense and He’s free us from our sins by His blood. So, His love is not only past, it is also present and of course,  it will be eternal and future. I hope that helps, Neal.

Relevant scripture:

John 3

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  -nkjv

1 John 4

10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. -nkjv

Ephesians 1

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, -nkjv

Revelation 1

5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,  -kjv

Revelation 1

5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To Him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood,  -hcsb

 

Leave a Comment

Posted in God's love

Posted by: thaishin | March 22, 2019

Why were their Hebrew names not mentioned more frequently?

Question on moody radio openline with Pastor Mike Fabarez on March 16, 2019:

Just wondering, in the book of Daniel, they speak of Daniel and his three friends, Hananial, Mishael and Azariah have been taken and then also in the first two chapters, it gives their names but in the chapters following, it just uses their Babylonian name, I was wonder why the writer change that or continue to do that? You always hear that in the sermon, they always use their Babylonian name rather than their Hebrew name.

Pastor Mike Fabarez:

That’s a great question. Let me just briefly give an overview: Hananial, Mishael and Azariah. Hananial means the Lord show grace, Mishael, much like Michael, means who is like God, like there is none like God, Azariah means the Lord is my help. Those are great, great Hebrew names that reflect good things, just like Daniel, his name means God is my judge,  an answer to just God. Well, they were given Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. Shadrach represents the moon god, Meshach who is like the moon god and Abed-Nego represents the god of the field. This is a definite insult, just like they took Daniel and the Babylonians named him Belteshazzar, means Belte protects your life, which means Belte should be your hope, not God. So, these names were changed and you asked an excellent question and it’s one that has baffled me, why is it that throughout the rest of the book, Daniel now is giving his name, though it’s written in the third person, so much of this narrative is given Daniel’s Hebrew name and Belteshazzar is not used and Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego are. I can only speculate about this but I can tell you, that when they are in their situation, unlike Daniel, who is a prophet, so removed and taken out and elevated to a place of not just being in that crowd of young men that are being trained for Babylonian use but Daniel as that prophet, the real star of the show so as to speak, such a Godly man. He is taken and always referred to throughout the book as his Hebrew name to remind us that he stepped out of that Babylonian crowd, even though Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, as I like to preach Hananial, Mishael and Azariah. I think they are now translated into the presence of God. They are in that state of being blessed, they are not in the Babylonian culture anymore, I would like to refer to them even I preached, as Hananial, Mischael and Azariah, that is a picture of them still being in that scene, even though they stand strong in the fiery furnace scene and they prove that they are going to serve the Lord. They are still in a different place in the kingdom, Daniel is exalted, Daniel comes on as the mouth piece of the Lord, as a prophet, Hananial, Mishael and Azariah are not, they are not the prophets spokesman of God and they continue on shining brightly as a great light for the Lord but they do that in a context, in an environment, that’s in the rank and file of Babylon. So, it’s a good question, that’s not necessarily a satisfying answer because I don’t have one. I wonder the same thing myself, one day, as I am sure from time to time, Dr Rydelnik has to say on this program,  we are going to find out, we are going to know what the reason was.

Leave a Comment

Posted in Daniel

Posted by: thaishin | March 15, 2019

Does the gap refers to the church age?

Moody radio program In the Market with Janet Parshall on March 7, 2019 with guest Dr Gary Frazier:

Question from Listener:

I want to revisit the question from the gentleman about the seventy weeks in Daniel. I thought his question was Daniel explains the first sixty nine weeks as being different from the last week, some people interpret that to mean we are in gap between the church age, between the sixty nine and the seventieth week and the gap is of indeterminate length because those events in the seventieth week won’t happen till the tribulation etc, is there a biblical warrant for inserting that gap?

Answer from Dr Gary Frazier:

Well, first of all, Eric, I will tell you that in my humble opinion, the text itself requires it. Here’s why: When that seventieth week of Daniel occurs, the sixty nine week ends with the cutting off of the Messiah, the seventieth week, when you look at that, it has not yet taken place but we have to have an intermediate period and most of us who study scripture literally believes that’s because of the insertion of the church age, born to evangelize the world and the final seventieth week is the ultimate tribulation period, delineated in scripture the final two thousand five hundred and twenty days.

Daniel 9

24 “Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.

25 “Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.

26 “And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”

-nkjv

 

 

Leave a Comment

Posted in Prophecy

Posted by: thaishin | March 9, 2019

Blog

Hi my friends,

I have decided to resume my blogging activities back on this website

 

2 Comments

Posted in No Category

Posted by: thaishin | March 9, 2019

Filling of the Spirit

Question on openline on moody radio on February 9, 2019
Just a quick question: In Exodus 31:3, where it’s talking about the building of the tabernacle and it says: I have filled him with the Spirit of God and wisdom and understanding and knowledge and in all manner of workmanship, talking about the gentleman that will be the leaders of the building process, I believe. So, is this the Holy Spirit? Is this something different, I am not sure exactly sure Spirit they are talking about in this case.

Michael Rydelnik:
The name of the man is Bezalel. That’s his Hebrew name. He’s been filled with God’s Spirit, that’s the Holy Spirit. The word filling means controlled or enablement, that’s the idea, when God’s Spirit fills us, He controls us, so He controls Bezalel, son of Hur, with His Spirit. His Spirit controls him, fills him with His Spirit so that he has wisdom, some translation translates that to skillful living or skill for design, for that’s what wisdom really is, it’s skillful living. So, with that verses, I fill him with God’s Spirit, with skill or with wisdom, understanding an ability in every craft. So, God gave him divinely enabled skill through His Spirit, so that he could build the tabernacle.

Listener:
So, it is the Holy Spirit …

Michael Rydelnik:
Yah. What else the Spirit could it possibly be, Jeff?

Listener:
The Holy Spirit in the old testament kind of comes into people and then can leave, where in the New Testament, we’ve today, as I understand it, were sealed all the time with the Holy Spirit.

Michael Rydelnik:
We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, although we are not filled with the Holy Spirit the whole time. The word filling has to do with being controlled by the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18, it says, don’t be drunk with wine or don’t be controlled by wine but be filled with the Spirit, so it has to do with the Spirit’s control, so it is possible that we are not filled, we are not controlled, we should obey that command and be controlled, of course people wanna know what, how to get controlled by the Spirit. I think in Colossians 3 where you have a parallel passage to Epheisians 5:18. In Colossians 3, the reason I think it is parallel is it has the same command or a command and it has the same outcome and it says in verse 17, whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, it has family relationships would be appropriate, I am sorry, verse 16 has worship first and then family relationships and then what we would call slaves and master or employer employee relationships, they all are going to come out to being filled with the Spirit, together with Ephesians 5:18. The command is different though in Colossians 3, there it says let the word of Messiah dwell richly among you, let the Word of Messiah, the word of God take forcible occupation of your life and it will have the same consequences as the Spirit of God empowering us, enabling us, controlling us, which is what filling of the Spirit means, Seems to me, when I take this two parallel passages, since they both have the same result but different command, is the way to be controlled by the Spirit is to input the Word of God into our lives, let it take forcible occupation so that we live in obedience to it, that’s how the Spirit controls us.

Listener:
Thank you.

Related scripture:

Exodus 31
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 5 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship. -nkjv
Ephesians 5
15 See then that you walk [e]circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of [f]God. -nkjv

Colossians 3
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
The Christian Home
18 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for[a] you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.  -nkjv

Leave a Comment

Posted in Holy Spirit

Posted by: thaishin | February 10, 2018

Three days and three nights?

 

Question from moody radio listener:

What day of the week did Jesus die?

Dr Michael Vanlaningham rephrased the question:

Jesus said that it’s going to be three days and three nights in the grave and yet people will say: he was in there part of the day Friday, all Saturday and part of the day Sunday, so we don’t really have three full days.

Listener: I’ve always been taught that part of the day in the Jewish calendar counts as a whole day. Answer from Dr Michael Vanlaningham: That’s correct. That’s good. We get that from and I won’t read these verses but I will mention them and if you want to jot these down real quick. We get that idea in 1 Samuel 30: 12-13, 2 Chronicles 10: 5, 12, Ester 4:16, Ester 5:1. In Jewish thinking, apparently, any part of the day was counted as that day and so if Jesus is in the grave let’s say Friday night, all day Saturday and part of Sunday morning, any part of those days and their thinking factor is the full day. It’s pretty clear that he died on the Friday before the Sabbath of Passover week, that Friday would have started the Passover and there he dies then. Friday, where it’s the end of his trial, he get’s crucified, give or take around nine o’clock in the morning, passes away on the cross around three on Friday, and on Friday that night starts the Sabbath, the first Sabbath of Passover, Saturday, Sunday.

Related scriptural text:

1 Samuel 30

12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. 13 And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick. -kjv

2 Chronicles 10

5 And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed.

12 So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day. -kjv

Ester 4

16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. -kjv

Ester 5

1Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house. -kjv

Leave a Comment

Posted in Death

Posted by: thaishin | February 9, 2018

Why was it a two day account in Mark and only a one day account in Matthew?

Question from listener on moody radio on February 4, 2018:

I have been studying the fig tree that Jesus cursed, normally I study in Mark 11, when he’s going on the road with the disciples and it’s said that he answered the tree and you get the impression that he’s crazy but he did not say anything. But, it’s said that there were no leaves and so he answered the tree and said that no man will eat fruit in Mark 11 verse 14, no man eat fruit of hereafter forever and his disciples heard it and coming down on the verse in the evening, they went out, verse 19, they went out of the city, verse 20, in the morning, as they pass by fig tree, they saw it dry up from the roots and Peter called to remembrance, said you cursed the tree. Matthew chapter 21, in verse 19, it says that and when he saw the fig tree on the way, he came to it and found nothing thereon, that leaves only and said onto it, let no fruit grow on you henceforth forever and presently, the fig true withered away. Verse 20 and when the disciple saw it and they marveled saying, how soon is the fig tree withered away and I have never really noticed that version of the story before, can you shed some light on it for me please and tell me when did the tree really dry up?

Answer from Dr Michael Vanlaningham:

Sure, great question and a of course a lot of more critical scholars say we have a contradiction here, matthew says it happens all in one day and mark indicates that it happened over two days. We are talking about Monday of the last week of Jesus’ life, more than likely, the day before it was Palm Sunday. I think as he is going into the city, as both gospel say on, that Monday, he sees the tree and he withers it. Matthew has a compressed account here. Mark has the fuller account. There’s not actually a contradiction. What we have is Matthew does not say that this happens the next day,  for whatever reasons that fits his purpose. A little something that you should know about Mark. When Mark has an episode that is parallel by either Matthew or Luke or both, Mark almost always has the longer account, especially with Matthew but sometimes Luke as well. Mark is the shorter gospel. He has fewer episodes in it overall but when he has an episode that either Matthew or Luke also have, he almost always have the longer account. So, he tends to give more detail on those episodes and here is one of those examples where he actually says this actually happens over a two day period. Matthew compresses it. Now, some are going to say, that’s a mistake, that’s an error. I will disagree and I tell you why. It was very common among ancient history writers, not just our gospel writers, that they would do a lot of that kind of thing. They would  compress accounts. They would sometimes arrange things thematically, whereas another account of exactly the  same thing would have been more straight forward in terms of its chronology. Now, let me give you an example, somebody who would write a biography of my life,  they might put in a single chapter all my education,  high school, college, master’s degree, phd. They would put it in the same chapter. Problem is those things are spread out over about a twenty year period. So, that would be a thematic arrangement. We would say it’s not inaccurate, it’s just how it gets done by this particular writer. So, Mark has certainly the fuller account, which is what Mark usually does. Matthew has a compressed account but I don’t think we have a contradiction.

 

 

1 Comment

Posted in Contradictions?

Posted by: thaishin | February 2, 2018

Are we able to see our families and friends?

Referenced Text:

Hebrews 12

  1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  -kjv

Question from moody radio listener on openline Jan 27, 2018:

The scripture reference is Hebrews 12:1 and my question is when we all die and go to heaven, are we able to look down on our family and friends and  see how they are doing, where it talks about a great cloud of witnesses, are we that great cloud of witnesses?

Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Well, we have to read that in context. The context tells me no.  When you read Hebrews 12, it says therefore since we all also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us but where is the surrounding us? It’s in Hebrews 11. When we think of witnesses, we think of people watching us but what do a witness do in a court?  He testifies or she testifies. In Hebrews 11, it gives the history of people who testify to the value of faith. And it starts right there in the beginning with Abel, offering to God in verse 4 a better sacrifice and goes all the way through with Noah and Abraham and Sarah and so on and so on and finally it’s almost near the end of the chapter and the writer of Hebrews says, what more can I say time is too short for me to tell of Gideon, Barack , Samson, Jephtah, David, Samuel, Prophets and goes on and even talks about events that happened in the inter-testamental  period between the old and the new. And he says all these were proved through faith and then he says in 12 he makes his application to his audience, therefore since we all have a large crowd, a group of witnesses, that’s all the people in Hebrews 11, who testify of the value of faith, they surround us, then what we have to do is to lay aside incumbrance, every weight that so easily ensnares us and run the race with endurance. The idea there is let’s take the testimony of all those who have lived by faith and say we too will live by faith with endurance. Now, the question then comes what do people who have gone before us to the Lord, can they see what’s going on here? There’s nothing in the bible that says so.  They will be comforted, They will see us again, great reunion, it’s going to be wonderful. But, they are not watching us because when we get to glory, we don’t become like little gods. God is omniscient, so he could see, they are in a whole different dimension and they are with the Lord. Because God is omniscient, he knows what we are doing but they are not God, so they are not omniscient. They can only see what they are in, which is in the presence of the Lord and that’s certainly satisfying to them. And so don’t stress about someone we love not being able to see us, they are completely satisfied.

 

1 Comment

Posted in Faith

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

Categories