Posted by: thaishin | December 5, 2015

No longer an old testament Sabbath

Question: I wonder why with the reformation and the protestant movement, why did they not go all the way to changing the Sabbath to the correct day since we are standing on the word throughout the whole thing?

Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Are we still under the Torah, the Pentateuch, the law of Moses today? The answer is yes and no. The yes part is it is God’s word, it is authoritative in our lives and we need to read the laws of the Torah as wisdom. On the other hand, the law of Moses is not the constitution that we live under. The bible says that when the Messiah came, he render the law of Moses inoperative. That’s Ephesians 2: 14-15. The idea is that we are not under the old testament operating system but under the new covenant. It says in 2 Corinthians 3 that God render inoperative the laws engraved in stones. That’s the ten commandments. Why do we observe nine of the ten commandments? That’s because nine of them are repeated in the new testaments. The only commandment not repeated is the Sabbath commandment. Romans 14 suggests that one man may honor one day above the rest and another might treat all days as the same. This suggest that we take the wisdom principle of resting at least one day of the week. The Sabbath thus does not have to rest on a Saturday. The new covenant just dropped the law of the Sabbath because Exodus 31 says the Sabbath is the sign of the Mosaic Law and it is because we are under the new covenant, the Sabbath under the Mosaic law is not repeated.

Ephesians 2

14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;  -kjv

Romans 14

5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.  -kjv

Exodus 31

16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days theLord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.  -kjv

This question was asked on moody radio openline on Nov 14, 2015.

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Posted by: thaishin | November 28, 2015

The virgin birth predicted

Isaiah 7

13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.  -kjv

13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right,  -niv

13 Isaiah said, “Listen, house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? 14 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel. 15 By the time he learns to reject what is bad and choose what is good, he will be eating butter and honey.  -hcsb

Observations and comments:

  1. The opinion of some people is that Isaiah 7:14 says that only a young woman will bear a son. The hebrew word used here is almah. Every usage of the word “almah” in the hebrew bible and not one you can find a description of a young woman who is sexually active when she is called an “almah”. So every time you see the word “almah”, you will associate it with a young woman who is a virgin. So the word “almah” has a specific meaning of a young woman who is sexually pure.

Heard this from moody radio chicago openline on Nov 14, 2015.

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Posted by: thaishin | November 21, 2015

Did the Lord Jesus actually go to hell?

The belief that Jesus went to hell between his crucifixion and resurrection, also known as the “harrowing of hell” has been believed since ancient times and is found even in the apostle’s creed.

The verse in Luke 23:43 and Luke 23:46 teaches that Jesus went to His father’s presence immediately after he died on the cross.

Luke 23

43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.  -kjv

Luke 23

46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.  -kjv

The verses that people who believed in the “harrowing of hell” cited were: Ephesians 4:9, 1 Peter 3:19-20 and John 20:17.

Ephesians 4

9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?  -kjv

This verse is referring to the incarnation, when Jesus became man and not Jesus descending to hell.

1 Peter 3

19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.  -kjv

This verse is not talking about Jesus preaching in hell but rather that Jesus is preaching through Noah in the past to the people who were still alive in the days of Noah but who rejected the teachings of Noah and hence are now “spirits in prison”

John 20

17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.  -kjv

This verse is not talking about Jesus’ spirit has not been to the Father but that Jesus is telling Mary Magdalene that she should stop clinging unto him because His bodily resurrection is still in the future. In other words, Jesus is saying that “Mary, you can let go of me because for the next forty days, I will still be with you”

Hence, there is no biblical basis for the “harrowing of hell” and even the later version of the apostle’s creed was wrong.

 

 

 

 

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Posted by: thaishin | November 15, 2015

Why did the Lord Jesus commend that steward?

Luke 16

8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.  -kjv

8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.  -niv

8 “The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted astutely. For the sons of this age are more astute than the sons of light in dealing with their own people. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous money so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.  -hcsb

Observation and comments

  1. The gist of the parable of the dishonest manager is this: The dishonest manager is confronted by the rich man of squandering his possessions and the rich man intends to remove him from his position. The dishonest manager don’t wish to beg his master nor think that he can retain his position, so what he did was to forgive some of the debts of the debtors so that he can make more friends and others may welcome him should he be dismissed and the master praised the actions of the dishonest manger.
  2. Is Jesus advocating dishonesty? No. The master praised the dishonest manager because he has acted astutely. What Jesus is saying that basically what he did was unrighteous but he was astute and that’s how he saved his neck by using wealth to make friends. That is how the unrighteous used money. Those who follow the King should use money in the same way, not use money dishonestly but we need to use the money to extend the kingdom of God. Support missionaries, support people going for vocation training, support the work of God and one day when we go to heaven, we will meet people in heaven who will tell us that because of the money you gave to a missionary, that’s how I came to the saving knowledge of Jesus and that’s how I came to heaven to celebrate eternity with you and we will be welcomed by all those people whom we have worked as partners so that they can hear the gospel. Jesus is saying money may be unrighteous but we can use it to advance the kingdom of God.

Learnt this from open line moody radio.

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Posted by: thaishin | November 6, 2015

How are the people of the old testament saved?

Question from moody radio listener:

How did the people in the old testament know that they are saved or not? I know God made the relationship known like Moses, Abraham and the prophets, but without Jesus, how are the people saved in the old testament?

Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik from Moody Radio openline on Oct 24, 2015

I think the simplest way to understand salvation is people are saved the same way all the time, by grace through faith in the revealed will of God. So, it is always by God’s undeserved kindness towards us, that is by grace through faith through trust. However, what is the object of trust? What are we trusting in? It is by whatever God has revealed for us to trust in. In the old testament, people were told to trust that if they sinned, and offered sacrifices, God will provide a covering for their sins and probably they received enough revelation of a coming Messiah, though they might not have known that his name is Jesus. They might not have comprehended of all the details that have been revealed to them about Jesus in the scriptures. So, if they offered the sacrifices in trust in God forgiving them and they look forward to that coming redeemer, that was their trust and their sins are forgiven. We know that those old testament sacrifices are like paying the minimum balance of the credit card and holding them off for another month but it does not deal with the principal and interest of the debt. When Jesus came, his death paid the penalty, paid the principal and interest and everything dealing with the debt. This is not only true of the case for us who believed today but even for the people in the old testament. It is Jesus’ death that dealt with sin. It is Jesus’s death that is the fulfilment of the old testament sacrifical system.

Above answer is not word for word from Dr Michael Rydelnik.  Some words are phrased based on my own understanding of the audio clip.

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Posted by: thaishin | November 2, 2015

Curse of God

Matthew 27

5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.  -kjv

Acts 1

18 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.  -kjv

Observation and comments:

  1. Acts was written by Luke and has a different account of how Judas Iscariot died as written by Matthew.
  2. The passages can be easily harmonized by the event in Matthew 27:5 occurring first, followed by Acts 1, meaning Judas hanged himself first (that was how he died) and then probably the branch of the tree broke and he fell headlong and his bowels gushed out.
  3. Matthew was writing to the Jews. To the Jewish person, cursed is the one who is hanged on the tree. This showed to the Jews that Judas was cursed. Luke was writing to the Greco-Roman world. To them, suicide was not a curse but defacing the body (the Greco-Roman people elevated the body) showed it to them that Judas was under a curse. Each author had a purpose for the way they presented it to help their audience see that Judas was under a curse.

Learned this from openline, moody radio, on October 17, 2015

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Posted by: thaishin | October 24, 2015

The verse that Muslim apologist commonly use

Numbers 23

19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?  -kjv

19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?  -niv

19 God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?  -hcsb

Observations and Comments

  1. Numbers 23:19 is a verse that Muslim apologist commonly use to argue against the incarnation, that God became a man.
  2. The verse is not saying that Jesus cannot become a man but that God is not like humanity, men and women, who lie. The idea is taken out of context by Muslim apologists legalistically too.
  3. This verse is proclaimed by Balaam. Balaam is a true prophet and Moses included Balaam’s word as truth.

Learned this from open line, moody radio broadcast of June 27, 2015

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Posted by: thaishin | October 18, 2015

Significance of the title “Son of man”

One of the strongest ways Jesus claimed deity was by calling himself the “Son of man”. “Son of man” is understood in Judaism to be equivalent to deity.

At the trial before the high priest,

Matthew 26

63 But Jesus held his peace, And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 65 Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.  -kjv

Jesus combines Psalm 110:1 and Daniel 7:13 in Matthew 26:64. The high priest understands Jesus’ implication that he is claiming deity and hence rents his clothes and accuse Jesus of blasphemy.

Psalms 110

1The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.  -kjv

Daniel 7

13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.  -kjv

In Daniel 7

9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.  -kjv

The word thrones – plural shows that Jesus was sitting on one throne while God the Father – the Ancient of days sit on the other throne.

Learned this from openline moody radio on 10 Oct 2015.

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Posted by: thaishin | October 11, 2015

Jesus asked the Israelites to do what the Pharisees says?

Matthew 23

23 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.  -kjv

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  -niv

23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach.  -hcsb

Comments and Observations

  1. It seemed in verse 3 that Jesus is asking the Israelites to obey what the scribes and pharisees say when they sit in Moses’ seat, which is puzzling because Jesus certainly did not say anything that is remotely positive of the scribes and pharisees anywhere else in the gospels.
  2. In most synagogues, there is this chair called the seat of Moses. The scribes and pharisees function as legal authorities in addition to their religious authorities, so they would be the attorneys, judges in their so called court cases in their time and they would sit in these ceremonial chairs which are called the Moses’ seat to oversee the court case.
  3. As per Exodus 18:13, Moses used to sit to judge the legal problems of the Israelites. In Deuteronomy 17, it becomes apparent that that authority get distributed and delegated to other leaders and when these leaders render judicial decisions, the Israelites must do and observe what they say.
  4. So what Jesus is saying here is that the Israelites are not to listen to the scribes and Pharisees with regards to religious matters but when they function as the legal and judicial authority, their decisions are binding.
  5. There is no commandment in this verse that we are to keep the law but with regards to the Israelites back in Jesus’ time, they are to observe and do what scribes and Pharisees say in the courts.

Learned this from moody radio openline on Oct 3, 2015.

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Posted by: thaishin | October 6, 2015

Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, covet

Exodus 20

13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.  -kjv

Romans 13

9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  -kjv

From the sixth commandment to the tenth commandment, repeated in both old and new testament.

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