Bible Study #8 Matthew Chapter 5 Part 2

King James Version

Divided in two parts because of the complexity and depth of this chapter.

Scripture is in red. Author’s comments are in black.

23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Here Jesus speaks about how important it is to not stay angry with your brother or allowing anything your brother has against you to stand between you. Your brother here is another person that follows Christ Jesus (a Christian). What Jesus is basically is saying is do not try to get in the grace of God by making an offering (or prayer) to God before you reconcile your differences with your brother. If you do it may not be received by God the way you had hoped. God may not bless your offering or prayer. Forgive and ask forgiveness before the offering so that you may be forgiven.
God forgets once he forgives and never remembers a forgiven sin again. The blood of Christ covered the sin.
Never remind a person of his or her failures or mistakes unless that person is repeating the same mistakes. You are not God and you do not know that persons heart. If you cannot follow this principal, forgive and FORGET, worry about yourself because you are not following the example of God and that is what true Christians are supposed to do.

25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Lets look at Proverbs 25: 8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. Now back to Matthew 5:26

26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Make good on your debts whether the debt be a wrong against another or a monetary debt. Do not delay correcting a wrong you may have done to another.

27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. What the mind thinks the body is likely to follow. If you allow your mind to lust the next thing that the mind will do is plan how to make the lust come about for real and after that the body will follow the mind. You are in control of what your mind thinks. Avoid temptations even if it means avoiding those that tempt you. Do not allow the mind to dwell on things of the flesh. You can do this by keeping your mind on God.

29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. A hand can be infected with gangrene and would need to be amputated to save the life and the rest of the body. It is said that Christians are the body of Christ and the church is the body of Christ. In our lives we will come across those that will cause us spiritual harm, cause us to be tempted away from Christ, cause us temptation of the flesh, force us into anger or rage, and cause us to forget the teachings of Christ on a regular basis. Put these people out of your life. Forget them; send them to others who can try to bring them to salvation but do not risk your own soul. If anyone causes your relationship with God to be in danger run from him or her! It is better to lose a “friend” or family member than to allow yourself to be taken away from God.

31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. This does not say for the cause of adultery you can put away your wife, it says except for fornication. Lets look at what fornication means here. It is from the Greek word porneia, where we get the word pornography, (#G4202 in the Strong’s Concordance). Here are the definitions:

1) illicit sexual intercourse

a) adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.

b) sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18

c) sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11,12

2) metaph. the worship of idols

a) of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols.

This opens a whole new can of worms. What is worship of idols (false gods)? What are your gods? Anything in life that takes you away from the true God is your idol. This can be many things; an overpowering drive for sex, total devotion to a celebrity, alcoholism, drugs, astrology, witchcraft, fortune tellers, pornography, consuming hatred, total desire for money or power, self love (loving yourself beyond anything else), pride, overwhelming jealousy, and even complete devotion to TV or any other entertainment medium that keeps you from the word, worship and love of God. All these are of the flesh and not the spirit. God is to be our main concern and love, not to deprive ourselves of enjoyment of life, but also not allowing our enjoyment of life to interfere with our devotion to God.

33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. This is similar to the saying: “your mind (or mouth) is writing checks that your body cannot cash”. For many years when I have been asked to do something for someone I have always placed a qualifier in the answer such as: I will do that for you “if the Lord allows” or “if an emergency does not come up”. The reason I do this is because if I make a promise that I am going to do what a person requests then that person has to understand that I am not in charge of my destiny. Jesus is saying here that you do not know for sure if you will be able to keep a promise and when you swear by God or Heaven or anything that is Gods you may not be able to deliver because of circumstances. Jesus says to respond either positive or negative to a question but do not include an oath on God or Gods realm. You are not a prophet and you know not your future and God will expect you to make good on your oaths to or of Him

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. If you are teaching God’s word and a person refuses to believe do not allow yourself to be angry, allow the person to speak his or her peace and move on. The quote an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is talking about justice of the world. Turning the other cheek is showing those that are of Satan the patience and compassion of being Christian. This may bring them to understanding of the teachings of Christ. Christians are to plant the seed and if you are not received shake the dust off your feet and move on. This is taken from Matthew 10:13-14:

13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.

14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

Back to Matthew chapter 5

40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. Do not be upset if you are sued and lose. If you are judged as being in the wrong show your understanding and cheerfully repay that which has been decided is your debt. If a person asks of you cheerfully give to them. If you are done an injustice worry not because it is of this world and therefore of no real matter because our spiritual home is the only place we can expect to find true justice and our rewards.

41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. If a person asks a favor of you or is in need show that person that you care by offering more than he or she asks for or more than that person needs at the time. If you care for others your Christian light will shine for the glory and honor of God. This is the Christian way. This is where we get the quote “go the extra mile”

42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Verses 42-48 show love to those that may not deserve love and to give to those that are needy. Jesus is teaching this because all humans are in need of the word of God, the love of God and His forgiveness, which He gives freely. All mankind sins against the Father yet he loves us all and forgives us all if we ask. As evil as humans can be God loves the world so much He sent His only begotten Son to die so that we would not have to experience the second death. Share God’s grace and love with others so that the light of God may shine through you and then you might understand the love of God and His Grace better yourself.

If you love only those that love you then you are no better than the worst of humanity. Christians are to be better than that. Love sinners but not the sin. The sunrises on your enemies as well as it does on you (God gives you no special treatment to place you above others). Are you better than others? NO! We are all sinners. Love everyone and help everyone. You may never know how those you have rejected may change your life and they may actually be better than you. If you recognize (treat decently) only those you think are your equals then you have lifted yourself above others. Satan made the same mistake.

Lift yourself above the thoughts of this world. At this time this world is the realm of Satan until the return of Jesus. If you want to live a satanic life then you have no place with God. Treat everyone equally with the same love, as you love your own life. I could go on but I hope you get the picture. Only God is perfect but we all need to strive to be like God. We will fail, but we must emulate and practice what God teaches us. Anything else is from the serpent.

May God Bless the reader with love and understanding.

Up next: Matthew Chapter 6

Bible Study #7 Part 1 Matthew Chapter 5

King James Version

Divided in two parts because of the complexity and depth of this chapter.

This study contains verses 1-22.

Scripture is in red. Author’s comments in black.

Intro:

In this chapter Jesus teaches more about the Christian heart and spirit than law. Jesus knows no human can live up to all that he teaches because man is inherently a sinner but if man would attempt to follow these teachings as closely as possible he will be nearer to the kind of being God desires to see. If mankind followed these teachings the earth would be a better place to live and persecution, fighting, confrontations and all sorts of problems would not occur. I believe this sermon is a life lesson and therefore is as extremely important today as it was when Jesus spoke it.

1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit here are those that have humble spirits as opposed to haughty or proud hearts. They know they can do nothing without God and therefore do not boast of what they have done or accomplished. These people know where to give all the thanks, glory and praise. Nothing good can be accomplished without God.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Do you sometimes mourn because of your distance from God? Do you mourn because of trouble in your life? It is good if you mourn for your sins because that shows your heart is saddened because of your lost condition. This verse covers much more than your spiritual condition; it includes everything in your life. When you are unhappy with anything in your life leave it at the feet of Jesus. If you study and understand God’s word you will find comfort there for anything in your life. God loves us all and His comforter is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Word. Many of you may realize this already but Christ Jesus is the living Word of God. Know this: problems, suffering, sadness and unhappiness will arise throughout your life and the biggest comfort through all this is the fact that those that believe upon Jesus as their savior and that He died on the cross to pay for our sins there will be a time of no more tears, no more sickness, no more tribulation or trials, only happiness and a sweet everlasting life were Jesus resides. On the subject of comfort let’s look at Isaiah Chapter 61:

Isaiah 61: verses 1-3:

Verse 1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; Meek here is the humble of spirit. Opening of the prison speaks about being bound by sin, as does the mention of captives. This also speaks about other problems as was mentioned in the previous verse.

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; Vengeance of the lord is His justice that we will all witness. If you mourn for loved ones that were killed by evil you will be comforted with God’s pure, true and righteous judgment. No one will escape this justice. There will be no ACLU or right wing judges there to protest the penalty or commute the sentence. There will be no slick-talking lawyers to find a loophole for the criminal. I guarantee no one will sway the decision of God; His sentence will be final and quick.

You also will be comforted to know that some loved ones you thought would not make heaven (we sometimes judge others too quickly) will be there with you. What a joyous reunion!

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. The comfort of the Lord could fill and entire book. Rest assured that God will provide what you need when you need it. Whatever your problems, lay them at the feet of Jesus.

Beauty for ashes: this means a beautiful new spirit body to replace your old flesh one that has returned to dust. I think this verse shows for every sadness or persecution or wrong done to you in your flesh body it will be replaced with gladness, splendor and beauty. For every time you planted a seed for the Lord or stood for Jesus like a strong oak tree you will receive a crown of glory.

There will be many verses in the Bible that are so full of meanings that it cannot be explained in a simple paragraph or two and I believe this is one of those. Think about this verse and what it means in your life.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. I need to speak about the meek for a minute. In the Bible this word does not indicate those that are afraid or trembling or shy or afraid to fight. The Strong’s Concordance defines it (as it is used here) as word number 4239: Mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit.

Meek was also used as the translation from many other Hebrew words and I do not have room here to give all the definitions. Suffice it to say that of all the apostles most were killed or persecuted constantly. They were meek BUT they were strong enough in Jesus to stand for Him knowing what kind of death they may have to endure. That is NOT being afraid or shy or afraid to fight, that my friends is courage and conviction and true faith. If more Christians today could show this kind of strength the world would be in much better shape.

Many so-called Christians today do not even have the will or want to study the truth of the Bible. They are happy learning from some charlatan on television or a preacher that has learned the traditions of man telling them what they should believe without searching for the truth themselves. This is a SHAME. Jesus gave his LIFE for you, the least you could do is learn and understand God’s truth. Check the accuracy of every teacher of the Bible, yours truly included.

I can only guess how some of todays so-called Christians might react if they were threatened with death unless they denied Christ Jesus. That may come about very soon. I hope you are prepared to stand up for Christ Jesus and not be deceived. If not I hope you enjoy the company of Satan because he may become your roommate.

God offers you His truth and it is up to you to discover it.

Sorry about getting side tracked from the study but there are so many false beliefs and traditions today it scares me. Way too many Christians are being deceived and it makes me angry because it is so easy to learn the truth. Anyway, back to our study.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. This is part of what I mentioned in my diatribe of the previous verse. When you hunger and thirst after righteousness you are searching for the truth of God. Before anyone can understand what righteousness is a person has to understand the truth and teaching of God’s word.

Hunger and thirst are severe needs of the body. The word of God is a severe need of the spirit and if you are not hungering for God’s word then you being filled from another source: Satan is feeding you and "satisfying your spiritual” needs. You are not learning the truth.

If you hunger and thirst for Gods word the truth will be revealed to you and you will be satisfied and comforted but you will hunger and thirst as long as you are in a flesh body. As long as we are in the world we will never understand the entire word of God.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. These people are being merciful because they are in the spirit of God and it is their true nature. These people have believed on Jesus and it shows through their actions. It is best to not do a thing in order to obtain a reward but to do a thing cheerfully.

This style of living and caring and thinking carries through out all the blessings listed here and everything Jesus taught. God knows your true heart.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. The pure in heart are those that have been transformed after accepting Christ as their savior. They are not sinless but the Grace of God has covered them.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. The last three verses speak of Christians being persecuted, reviled, slandered and lied about. Jesus is letting His followers know that those of the world will not accept His followers. The followers of Jesus will not find rest in a world made up of unredeemed sinners. If you live in the United States be happy that your problems in this country are not as bad as in some other countries. Christians are reviled in the U.S. but at least we are not placed in prison, or worse, because of our beliefs. Christians will never find peace until the return of Christ Jesus. All these tribulations will be fully compensated to those that stand by Christ Jesus and are persecuted. There will you find your blessings and rewards. Peacemakers are those that lead others to Christ because only Christ is the way to peace.

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Notice this verse starts with ye, as in a plural sense. This is speaking to all followers of Christ. What does salt do and how was it used in the time of Jesus? Salt is a preservative; it enhances flavor and seasons food. Salt was even used to help heal wounds. At the time of Jesus salt was almost worth it’s weight in gold. Jesus will preserve life and Christians will help preserve life by sharing the gospel (good news) of Christ. Without Christians in this world only the tastelessness or disgusting flavor of sin would be available. Christians, because they follow Christ, give this world its only redeeming virtue and if you lose your love for the Lord then you are not able to help Jesus and you are not able to bring others to Christ. Such a person is of no value. They will be trodden under foot.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Just as the salt, we need to remember what light does. Sunlight is necessary for any life on earth. Without sunlight nothing would grow or survive. Without Jesus man will perish. Christians are the light of the Lord leading others to the truth. Even a candle gives enough light to show the way through the dark. Without Christians shining the light of Jesus many people may die a spiritual death, the final and true death. Remember, Jesus is the way the truth and the light. Christians are to emulate Christ so that others may follow and understand. If your light does not shine you should wonder why and worry about it deeply.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. If you are a true Christian do not hide your faith, allow your faith and actions to be seen by the world so that others may understand what Christianity is all about.

Never dishonor the Lord by acting in a non-Christian manner because how the world sees you will be how they think of all Christians. Many people in this world are chomping at the bit for anything they can use against Christ and Christians and we are not to give the enemy (Satan) ammunition or succor (assistance). An old saying goes: lead, follow or get out of the way. If you are a Christian then lead others to Christ, if you are undecided about your faith follow true Christians and learn about Christ and if you are a stumbling block for Christ get out of the way, your master has lost the war already.

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophecies. When Jesus died on the cross He fulfilled all prophesies. As for the law there was no longer reason for blood sacrifices because He was the last sacrifice, the last atonement and our redeemer. On that note this is the reason gentiles did not have the need for circumcision because that was also a blood offering or sacrifice. Jesus was also the blood covenant.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Not a single change in the law will occur, not even a period will be removed. The Old Testament Laws still stand and Jesus is the fulfillment of some of those laws.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. It is one thing to break a commandment but is even worse to lead someone else to break one or lead someone else to believe they are not breaking a law of God. Jesus is speaking of false teachers and false doctrine again but Jesus is also speaking of those who, because of their own lust or desires, may lead others into fornication, drunkenness (which includes illicit drug use, adultery, homosexuality etc) or anything else that is against the law of God. Leading or tempting others away from God is worse than you being tempted yourself because you may cause a person who could have been saved to be lost forever. Do you want that guilt on your mind and soul forever? We cannot allow ourselves to be the vessel that Satan uses to lead others to destruction.

Jesus is also reminding us that while we are in flesh bodies we will sin and therefore we need His salvation. If you teach others the truth your blessings in Heaven will be greater but never lead others away from Christ.

20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus makes a statement here that leaves no room for debate. If you have read my study on Pharisees and Sadducees (and as you can see scribes are included here) you already know that these people are not in the will of God and are enemies of Christ.

If you want to see how lowly Christ thinks of these people and since Jesus is using them as an example of who will “NOT enter into the kingdom of Heaven” let’s make a comparison with: 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10: and see what Jesus has compared them with:

9: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind (ergo homosexuals), What does the word effeminate mean here? From the Strongs Concordance: 1) soft, soft to the touch a) effeminate 2) of a boy kept for homosexual relations with a man 3) of a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness 4) of a male prostitute

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. What a group to be associated with! Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes must rate on the bottom of the chart.

Now back to: Matthew 5: 21.

21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

These two verses are interesting for several reasons. Jesus leads off speaking about a law that everyone knows and understands. It should be remembered that in this instance the word “kill” refers to murder, to sit in wait for the purpose of killing, planning ahead of time to cause a death. The distinction is important.

The word “Raca” means an empty headed man, it was a strong reproach used by the Jews. Now lets discover what this all means.

Anger at a brother without justification brings just as much danger of judgment from God as murder does. Why is this? Uncontrolled Anger without reason is an emotion that brings on severe actions and when this happens a person may do things he or she may not normally do. A person that is angry without cause is a person that refuses to listen to the facts or another’s point of view; he has already decided that his brother is guilty or wrong. No amount of truth will change his mind. That is a heart that has been hardened. That is where the judgment comes in. If a person decides on his own to condemn another person without hearing the facts then that person may be subjected to the same type of judgment he gives his brother. I believe this is also an example of other emotions we must control. Strong passions from any emotion that leads us to judge a person may cause us to commit sins against God and other people. As we know in today’s world there have been people murdered over sexual passion, jealousy, desire for money and power, fits of anger and a host of other emotions. If we refuse to open our hearts and minds we are judging without reason. Allowing our emotions free reign without control will cause a person a multitude of problems. We must forgive so we will be forgiven.

Why does a person that says “thou fool” (evidently calls a person a fool) be in danger of hell fire? If we look at the subject of these verses we see that Jesus is talking about penalties and judgments and righteousness and also who will inherit the kingdom of Heaven (always discover the subject of the verse). I believe that where Jesus says when you call your brother a fool He is talking about you claiming your brother is a fool in righteousness and therefore you are basically saying you think you are closer to God than he is or you understand God better than your brother does. Jesus is saying your eyes may be closed to the truth and you refuse to open your eyes and mind to the truth while at the same time you are condemning your brother’s beliefs. Never decide the truth without consulting the word of God and discovering the truth of God. You may be wrong so make sure you know what you are talking about. Read and study for you own soul and keep an open mind.

When we decide on our own that another person is destined for hell or is wrong about the teachings of the Bible and Christ Jesus we are opening ourselves to the same condemnation and judgment that we are placing on our brother (another Christian). God is the Judge, not man. “Judge not lest ye be judged”. Is your heart hardened against the Truth Of God? Be not blind or deaf, hear and see the truth of God so that you may be blessed forever, if not you may be condemned or seduced by Satan.

Since this study is long and involved we will break here and continue it in the next study. God has so much to tell us, yet we have but a short life to take it all in.

May God bless the reader with understanding and hunger for His Word.

Bible Study #6 Matthew Chapter 4

King James Version, Scriptures in Red

Comments are in Black

Verse 1: Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Jesus needed to be subjected to everything a mortal man experiences, even temptation directly from Satan. Because of this no one will be able to stand before the Lord on judgment day and say, “you don’t understand” or “you don’t know what it was like”. By the time Jesus is crucified He will understand all that it is to be truly human. When Jesus is on the right hand of God and we stand before Him He will be able to say something like, Father forgive him, I understand his temptations, agonies and weaknesses because I lived the life he did. Jesus is our intercessor however Jesus will also know where we have no defense of our choices.

2: And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

Jesus was hungry; this proves he is actually in a flesh body because His body suffers the same human frailness any other man does. The reasons for this are many and as we go along we will understand more about why this is important.

3: And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Satan already knows Jesus is the Son of God. We will see in other books and chapters that Satan’s minions recognize Jesus immediately.

Satan uses the word if as a taunt daring Jesus to prove who He is, another temptation. Jesus knows He does not have to prove anything to Satan and refuses.

4: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Jesus means that food may sustain the body but the word of God sustains our spirit bodies. Without the word of God the sprit would perish. The spirit is much more important than the flesh. This statement is found in:

Deuteronomy 8: 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. If your spirit seems as though it is not hungry for the word of God then your spirit MUST be feeding from the words of Satan. Which do you hunger for, the word of God or the things of this world? We cannot hunger for both.

Continuing on to verse 5:

5: Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, The holy city is Jerusalem.

6: And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7: Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Today there are religions that tempt God regularly by handling snakes and supposedly drinking “poison”. If Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is not going to tempt God it is most assuredly wrong for any man to do it. This is another example of false teachers and false doctrines.

8: Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9: And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. How can Satan offer these things to Jesus? Satan is the prince of this world. For the moment he is in charge of the earth but this is only temporary. Although Satan is prince of the earth God regulates what Satan can and cannot do or how far he can go. That is why we will not be tempted past what we can bear. This is also why we cannot blame Satan for our sins, Satan may tempt us but ultimately our decisions are ours alone.

10: Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Jesus gives us our answer to anything Satan tries to do to us. Christians have to power to force Satan to leave us alone but only if we are truly Christian and have full faith in God and your command to Satan follows the will of God. Notice the word “if” in the last sentence. This word occurs many times in the Bible and it is there for a reason. When God makes a statement that He will do a thing for you it almost always includes the word “if”. Without your obedience and faith to the instructions that follow that word “if” you will not receive God’s blessing.

11: Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Notice the angels arrived after all this has occurred. Jesus was probably in bad shape after being in the desert for forty days without food. Jesus was in his weakest state when tempted by Satan. This was to give Satan the best chance he would have at tempting Jesus just so Jesus could demonstrate His strength in His Father and demonstrate how we as Christians should react in times of weakness. This is for the glory and honor of God.

12: Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; Why? John being imprisoned could not preach the Gospel to the multitudes. Remember John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ now it is time for Jesus to take over. The story for John the Baptist is not over yet as we will see.

13: And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:

14: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

15: The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

16: The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. Let’s look at Isaiah 42:7: as it relates to these verses, it says: To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. Verse 16 in Matthew and the verse from Isaiah both have multiple meanings. Darkness is the realm of Satan and the same is true of the shadow of death. Satan is death. Jesus is the Light. As Jesus teaches and heals there is hope for everyone both in their flesh bodies and their spiritual bodies. Jesus has arrived and death will soon be defeated. The light also indicates truth. Isaiah 42:7 says: To open the blind eyes etc.(read this please) Jesus will heal the blind physically but also spiritually. The blind are those that do not know God, the same with those “in darkness of prison”. Prison and darkness here are realms and traps of Satan. Jesus is here to guide and direct us from certain death at the hands of death himself, Satan. The only way to find the escape from darkness and prison is to follow the Light.

17: From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom of heaven will be established by Christ Jesus on earth deposing Satan as the prince of the earth.

18: And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

19: And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. “Fishers of men”, to cast the “net of truth” and bring men into the understanding of the gospel having to do with Christ Jesus.

20: And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

21: And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

22: And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. Why did these men leave their life’s work to follow Jesus without question? Think about this. Would you pick up and leave your job to follow someone you just met to go on a mission you do not yet fully understand? When Jesus spoke these men knew He was something special and in their hearts they understood Jesus was more than just a common man. They recognized the Son of God because God opened their eyes to the Truth.

23: And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

24: And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. “Lunatic”, taken from the word lunar, the moon and stars are words often used for Satan’s realm or his minions, ergo fallen angels.

25: And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. Great multitudes followed Him because they could see the truth in Him and His miracles. Unfortunately, just as today, many followed Jesus only because of what they hoped Jesus could do for them and not for the Gospel, Truth and Love He was teaching. As we will see many were like the children of Israel wandering the desert. The children of Israel saw the wonders of God but constantly failed to love and understand and follow Gods commands. The slightest obstacle caused them to forget the wonders of God and search for other gods and demand more from God. Whatever was asked of God while the children of Israel were in the desert God provided and just as humans are today it seemed as though it was never enough.

As we will see even the disciples of Jesus denied Jesus after He was taken from them.

It is impossible for us to understand the depth of Gods love for us because we always fail Him and the one-thing humans do understand is failure. Moses was gone from the children of Israel for forty days on the mount and when he returned everyone was worshiping a golden calf. How soon we forget Gods love, caring, power, miracles and devotion. Stand strong in God because in this day and age we do not have the privilege of seeing Gods wonders as the children of Israel did. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. If you need miracles to have faith and to believe then you may never understand God or His Son Christ Jesus.

Bible Study #5 Understanding the Bible

Understanding How Hebrew and Greek Manuscripts are Translated.
Scripture is in Red. Comments are in Black

One important thing that will help you in Bible study is checking the full meaning of various words in the Bible. If you have access to a Strong’s Concordance (original version, not a new edited version) it will greatly help you understand. As these studies go on I will attempt to incorporate these definitions into the studies. As the context of the verse changes we need to think of which definition fits that chapter and verse best. When scripture was translated into the King James Bible those doing the translation had to use English words that they thought best matched the Hebrew or Greek words. Sometimes there were no English words that gave the full explanation.

Let’s look at one example: We will use the word “meet”

Genesis 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. In the Strong’s Concordance the word meet here is word number 5828. The transliteration is from the Hebrew word ‘ezer and the meaning is: 1) help, succour a) help, succour b) one who helps.

Let’s look at the word “meet” in:

Exodus 8:26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? In the original manuscripts the Hebrew word here is Kuwn which has very long list of meanings. In the Strong’s Concordance this particular “meet” is number 3559. Here are the meanings copied directly from Strongs Concordance:

1) to be firm, be stable, be established

a) (Niphal)

1) to be set up, be established, be fixed

a) to be firmly established

b) to be established, be stable, be secure, be enduring

c) to be fixed, be securely determined

2) to be directed aright, be fixed aright, be steadfast (moral

sense)

3) to prepare, be ready

4) to be prepared, be arranged, be settled

b) (Hiphil)

1) to establish, set up, accomplish, do, make firm

2) to fix, make ready, prepare, provide, provide for, furnish

3) to direct toward (moral sense)

4) to arrange, order

c) (Hophal)

1) to be established, be fastened

2) to be prepared, be ready

d) (Polel)

1) to set up, establish

2) to constitute, make

3) to fix

4) to direct

e) (Pulal) to be established, be prepared

f) (Hithpolel) to be established, be restored

The basic meaning for the word meet in Exodus 8:26 is that they should not determine to do this thing, it is not aright to do it, do not fix it in your mind to do this, do not set this up to be accomplished, do not establish this thing as an action, Etc. You can see how the English translation can miss so much.

In other passages it also has the meaning it does today. Gather together, join together, Etc.

If you want to check out definitions of Biblical words here is the website. Remember to match the particular word that occurs in the chapter and verse you are reading.

Click this link: http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html Beware, this is a new edited version and therefore not completely accurate.

As you can see from this simple word there are multiple meanings depending on what the Hebrew or Greek word was in the original manuscripts. This will be important in some future studies because without the meaning of the original word the entire meaning of the verse could be lost or misconstrued. As you can see from the word “meet” in Exodus 8:26 we need to use knowledge and common sense to understand what this verse means.

Bible Study #4 The Pharisees and Sadducees

Who are the Pharisees and Sadducees?

In our last study we were introduced to the Pharisees and Sadducees at the baptism John the Baptist was giving, but we were not told who they were or how they were relevant to the Bible.

There were two main religious sects for the Jewish people at this time (there were others as we will see). Just as there are many religious sects today these two sects held different beliefs, for instance the Pharisees believed in resurrection while the Sadducees did not. Nevertheless both groups were the scholars and teachers of the scriptures. They were the leaders of the Jewish religion. Most could quote scripture verbatim from memory and all were highly educated in the word of God.

These were also very proud people who desired adulation and recognition. They all enjoyed the power their positions gave them. As you will see as our studies progress these groups were also strongly against Jesus. Please note how these groups attempted to discredit Jesus using scripture just as Satan did during the temptation of Christ in the desert. We will learn of a close connection between these groups and Satan. There were also other religious leaders that aligned themselves with the Pharisees and Sadducees, as we will discover later.

Why are these groups so important to us today? They serve as a warning to us. Today we have many highly educated preachers and teachers that mislead us. These preachers and teachers may be educated and knowledgeable in the Bible but they do not understand what they have learned or they deliberately mislead us. This shows us that education and knowledge does not equate to being right with God.

These are the false preachers and teachers Jesus will be warning us of throughout the New Testament. If we follow their teachings and do not discover the truth for ourselves we can be condemned. If you believe that once you are saved there is no way you are going to fall away from God think again. God will not fail you but you can fail God and if you follow Satan you are removing yourself from salvation. When you turn your back on God you are looking upon Satan. No one can follow both. Just because you are saved does not mean you have lost your free will. God cast angels out of Heaven because they followed Satan, think about that.

Before anyone jumps up and says “once saved always saved” stop and think. What the Bible says is that if you believe on Christ Jesus as the Son of God and that He came in flesh body as your savior and you believe He died on the cross for forgiveness of our sins no one can remove you from His hand. You still have free will therefore YOU can remove yourself from His hand just as Satan removed himself from God’s keeping when he rebelled against God in Heaven.

At one time Satan was the “Covering Cherubim”, one that protected or covered the mercy seat of God. He held a very special place and position in Heaven but because of his pride and the rebellion from that pride he was cast out of Heaven and condemned. In fact Satan is the only spirit of all God’s creation that is condemned to death before the White Throne Judgment takes place. If this very special angel can be condemned can you truly believe you are special enough to avoid God’s wrath if you follow Satan? If you repent and ask forgiveness for following Satan then you can be justified again. Use common sense because that is what God gave you. As we go along in our studies we will learn more about this subject. If we want the truth the Bible offers us we must keep our minds open and forget the traditional teachings of man and learn the true word of God.

A side note here, repentance means asking forgiveness and to stop doing that sin. If you continue in that sin then you are not truly repentant. God knows what is in your heart so you cannot fool Him.

There are hundreds of false traditions and teachings we have been subjected to and that is why we are here, to dislodge the lies from our lives and learn God’s true teachings. Can I be wrong? Yes I can, but the Bible is never wrong. That is why I want everyone to check for themselves the accuracy of these studies.

But I digress; now let us return to the subject of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Bible will speak for it’s self on this subject and I am sure when some see what the Bible says it will shake some beliefs that some might have held about the Bible. I just want everyone to be forewarned that these studies may go against what you have learned so if you want the truth some of you may have to unlearn what you have been taught previously and I truly hope that is why you are reading this.

Or next study will be about learning how to understand the Bible. It will deal with understanding how the scripture was translated into the King James Version. After that we will return to the book of Matthew.

Bible Study #3 Matthew Chpater 3

Bible Study #3

Matthew Chapter 3

Scripture is in red. King James Version

As we saw in Chapter 2 Jesus had been taken to Egypt to keep King Herod from killing Him. We do not know how long Mary, Joseph and Jesus were in Egypt but quite some time had passed, as we will see in this chapter. Mary, Joseph and Jesus returned to Israel and settled in Nazareth.

Verse 1: In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

As you can see John the Baptist is preaching in the wilderness. John and Jesus were cousins and near the same age so Jesus must have been nearly an adult when He retuned to Israel from Egypt.

Verse 2: And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For reference this prophecy is spoken of in Daniel 40:3. The kingdom spoken of is Christ Jesus.

Verse 3: For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. We find this in Isaiah 40:3: The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. This is important because “the voice says” “prepare ye the way of the LORD…a Highway for our GOD”. This shows it is GOD that is arriving, not a human. It will be God in a flesh body. The quote “Make His paths straight” is interesting. I believe this is speaking to all those that follow Jesus. If we are to make his path straight then we should be “preparing the way” by introducing others to the teachings of Christ Jesus, showing what Jesus has done in your life, planting the seed so that God can lead those that have not heard or understood the Word of God and therefore be fruitful for Jesus. In other words make the path easier for others to follow Him, make knowledge of His path more available.

Verse 4: And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. John has disregarded the comforts of the flesh. His mission and his life’s purpose is preparing the way for Christ Jesus. Nothing else matters to him.

Verse 5: Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,

Verse 6: And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. Why were they all baptized in the Jordan River? If you recall Joshua led the Children of Israel over the Jordan. This river parted for the Israelites just like the Red Sea. The Jordan River was an important part of God’s plan and it was an example of the salvation of Christ. The Jordan and Red Sea both foreshadow our crossing over from flesh bodies to spirit bodies with God showing the way. When Jesus was crucified the sword parted his body and the veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom. Both were parted so that we could all have access to God without other men between God and us. Jesus became our access and intercessor to God. The Red Sea and the Jordan River parted so that the Israelites had access to the Promised Land (Heaven). I hope you can see the connection. I know there is much more to this verse than this but like many verses and chapters of the Bible it is nearly impossible to connect and explain everything in a short study so I will leave it there.

Verse 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “generation of vipers”, what does this mean? When the Bible speaks of a generation we know it is speaking of whom you are descended from. Satan and the fallen angels are the vipers. Right off the bat we know that these people are NOT of God. As we will see throughout the New Testament these people are the nemesis of Christ. The question “who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Is a rhetorical question because John had already answered it, the answer is Satan.

Verse 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: We know repentance was accomplished with the sacrifice of animals. The fruit of repentance here is not actual fruit of a tree. Fruits in the Bible often refer to what people have accomplished. In this instance John wants them to show that he is wrong and show what they have accomplished by way of bringing people closer to God and to His truth. He knows they cannot do it.

Verse 9: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. John is saying here that the Pharisees and Sadducees are as much sons of Abraham as the stones and in fact the stones could be closer related to Abraham than they could ever be.

Verse 10: And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Which tree brings forth bad fruit? Satan. Who will be cast into the fire? Again the answer is Satan. A tree indicates person or a family and the descendents from the source of that tree. Just like a family tree we know today when we research our family history. If you follow Satan you have joined his family tree and your future will be the same as his. There are only two positions to hold, follow God or Satan, there is no middle ground here.

Verse 11: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: John acknowledges that he is not the judge but that God is the Judge. He will baptize them if that is their desire and perhaps they will actually forsake Satan and follow God so he is more than willing to give them a chance. John also acknowledges that he is not the Messiah but only one to “make the paths straight” for the Messiah, Christ Jesus. Jesus is the one who will determine if they are truly worthy of Heaven. The baptism by fire can be found in Malachi 3:3 and 4:1. Malachi 3:3:

3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Malachi 4:1: For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. From these two passages we can determine what the baptism by fire means. In Malachi 3:3 (talking about Jesus) a person who sits as a refiner of silver places the silver in a very hot fire and that person must watch the silver closely and must leave the silver in the fire the precise amount of time. If the silver is in the fire too long it will be ruined, too short of a time it will not be purified. How can he tell the correct amount of time? When the worker of silver sees his image in it. Jesus will see His image in you when you are purified. If after the purification Jesus does not see His image in you then you will be burned up, you are worthless. In Malachi 4:1 it is talking about the judgment seat. This fire will be the fire of damnation and those that are impure will be cast away into the fire just as you would clean a field of waste material left after the harvest.

Verse 12: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Still talking about Jesus) The fan here is a broom and Jesus will sweep the floor clean and the chaff (the unusable part of wheat) will be separated and burned up while the wheat will be placed in a place of safety (Heaven). John is warning the Sadducees and Pharisees and actually all those present that if they do not actually repent and follow God instead of Satan then they will be destroyed in the fire. There will be many examples of wheat and chaff to come. Are you wheat or chaff?

Verse 13: Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

Verse 14: But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? John knows he is not worthy to baptize Jesus because Jesus is “God with us”.

Verse 15: And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. If you think about this verse you must wonder to yourselves why Jesus needed to be baptized. At this time Jesus is God but also man. Jesus surrendered his Godly powers to become flesh. Baptism in this sense indicates or simulates the (future) death and resurrection of Christ, ergo, entering the grave and arising from it. The baptism of Christ set the stage and example for the future and “cleansed” Him for his work on earth. What is humorous is that if the Pharisees and Sadducees were still there they had no idea what this meant. Jesus talks about several mysteries in later passages. These are mysteries because Satan does not know the plans of God and Christ will reveal them to His apostles. I believe this is a mystery to the Pharisees and Sadducees watching because they do not understand how Christ Jesus will defeat death and Satan their leader yet God is boldly demonstrating the future to them. Their future failure and destruction is right in front of them and they cannot see it.

Verse 16: And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

Verse 17: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Pharisees and Sadducees probably took a huge step backwards. They now realize that God is on earth in a flesh body and His appearance signals failure for them and Satan. This is where the battle begins between Christ Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees yet they still do not understand how they have lost.