From Jim McGuiggan... Holy Spirit, Old and New Testament

Holy Spirit, Old and New Testament

Psalm 139:7 "Where could I go from thy Spirit, where could I flee from thy face?"

1. The Holy Spirit has always been around, working to create, bless and redeem. His presence and work is not unique to the New Covenant church or scriptures. He indwelt, guided and blessed the Old Covenant church also.

2. Who brooded over the formless earth like a hen over her chickens, bringing order and harmony out of the chaotic and uninhabitable and continues to make the earth fruitful? The Holy Spirit! 1 Who strove with rebellious humans for years to turn them back to God and life? 2 The Holy Spirit did!

3. When Abraham trusted God to make his own over-the-hill body and his wife's dead womb fruitful and bear a child they couldn't have hoped for, who was involved in the whole process right from the start? 3 The Holy Spirit!

4. Biblical writers sometimes think of "the Exodus" as the actual departure of Israel from Egypt but often they see it as the whole movement of God bringing Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness and settling them in the land of promise.

5. Who was there delivering Israel from Egyptian captivity and bringing them through the Red sea? The Holy Spirit! Who was there in the midst of them, providing, as they wandered through the wilderness in need of food and rest? And who put up with their rebellion and murmuring, continuing to guide them though they grieved him with their wickedness? The Holy Spirit! 4

6. Having freed them from the external conditions of slavery, who was it that dwelled in and worked with them, shaping them with life-transforming truths that redeemed them from internal slavery to all forms of corruption, enabling them to walk with their heads held high? The Holy Spirit! 5 Who built the Tabernacle through those people he chose and gifted? The Holy Spirit. 6 And when God's supreme prophet needed help to spiritually guide the nation of Israel, it was the Spirit of God--the same Spirit that worked with Moses--that began to work in a more marked way with the seventy men chosen as colleagues to Moses, providing national guidance. 7

7. When Joshua and his peers died, Israel forgot what God had done for them the result was anarchy, civil war, renewed slavery and abuse from other nations. It was the Holy Spirit who came upon certain deliverers, galvanizing the tribes into unity that resulted in freedom and rest. 8

8. The Holy Spirit was there when the monarchy arrived, working through Saul until he showed himself an enemy of God's purposes. So the Spirit of God departed from him and came mightily upon David who called the nation to be one people under one God. When he sinned grievously against God, he pleaded that God not take his holy Spirit from him. 9

9. It was during the period of the monarchy that the prophets made their appearance in earnest. Prophets who, like Micah were filled "with the Spirit of the Lord" 10 and Azariah who proclaimed assurance to Judah and her king. 11  Both Nehemiah and Zechariah speak of the entire period before the exile as a time when God dealt with Israel through the Holy Spirit 12 and Peter speaks of "the Spirit of Christ" being "in" them when they foretold of the coming suffering and glorification of the Master. 13

10.Prophets saw a coming day of calamity because of Israel's covenant-breaking behavior but they assured Israel that a time was coming when God would signal the renewal of covenant relationship with Israel by lavishly pouring out the Spirit on men, women, girls and boys, male and female servants, virgins and old men. It would be a day of new beginnings, a day marked out by renewed Spirit activity.14

11. It's important that we remember that the work of the Spirit of God wasn't confined to acts of dramatic redemption or merely "religious" activities. Psalm 104 combines the extraordinary with the steady, everyday blessing of the entire creation. This includes his providing the gift of "wisdom" which means "thinking like God" and learning to live in and enjoy the world under him. The whole of life is permeated with the activity of the Holy Spirit.15

12. Then came the deportation the prophets had foretold and Israel marched into the dark, but even in captivity the Holy Spirit was dwelling, speaking, enabling and promising. Ezekiel was among the captives when the heavens opened and the Spirit of God entered him.16  Again and again he speaks conviction and consolation which comes to its peak in 37:1-14 where a nation dead in sin and exile is assured that the Spirit of God would raise them from their graves and give them life.17

13. When many returned to the land, chastened but not completely cured, they found life hard, their enemies eager, their situation precarious and unimpressive. But Haggai18  gave them the assurance that the covenant promise God gave to Abraham was still intact so they were not to fear, for not only was God faithful to his past promises, the Spirit of the Lord was "standing" in their midst. Zechariah encouraged Zerubbabel, the governor, to believe that the daunting task of establishing Israel again would be accomplished by the Spirit of the Lord.19

14. The literature of the Intertestamental period is littered with references to the Holy Spirit and his work in the lives of believers and elsewhere.20  Before the birth of John the Baptist and the Lord Christ himself, an angel assured the aged Zechariah that he would have a son who would be filled with the Spirit of God even from the womb.21  Luke 22 says the angel told Mary that in conceiving the Lord the Holy Spirit would come on her, "and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (an allusion to the Old Covenant Shekinah--the "glory" that stood over the Tabernacle). And there was the aged Simeon who was told by the Spirit that he would live to see the Lord's Messiah and being "in the Spirit" he came into the temple, saw the Christ child and praised God for his faithfulness.23

15. If all this is true--that the Holy Spirit was always and everywhere present, what are we to make of John's statement that even in the closing days of Jesus' earthly ministry, "the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified"?24

16. The "giving"25  and "receiving" of the Spirit in this passage hinges on the glorification of Christ and it has specific reference to believers in the Christ. It isn't necessary to set it against all we've just surveyed. John knew very well that the Spirit had always been at work in the people of God and beyond, and that he had been with them throughout the public ministry of Christ, because he expressly said this.26  He had never been absent so the "giving" of the Spirit speaks of some specialized sense of his presence.

17. The glorification of Christ involved his atoning death, his resurrection and his glorious ascension to God's right hand.27  Peter said "Exalted to the right hand of God he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear."28  This is precisely what Jesus was talking about when he said: "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever"--29

18. The significance of the giving and receiving of the Spirit in the John 7 passage is generated because it relates to the return of the exalted Christ who had ended the earthly phase of his ministry and had become life-giving Spirit.30

19. In Acts 2, what Peter told his listeners was this: they were witnessing a new beginning, a new and special presence of the Holy Spirit who was now—what he could never have been before—the presence and representative of the glorified Christ who with his Father had taken up residence in the Messianic believers who constituted the new temple.

20. The Spirit could not function in this role earlier, precisely because the Christ in his earthly ministry was operating in the realm of the flesh (that is, under ordinary human limitations) and was not a glorified, ascended and universal Christ. For the Spirit to operate in this new way it was necessary for Christ to return to the Father.31

21. In the unfolding purpose of God, the Christ could not stay with them unless he first went away from them (through the process of dying, rising, ascension and glorification) and returned to them in the person of the abiding Spirit.32 So the difference between what went before God's glorifying Christ and what happened after it, is more about the "new identity" of the Spirit than about degrees of intimacy or the kinds of things the Spirit did. The Spirit had become the presence of the glorified Christ who was no longer to be seen in "fleshly" terms (within mere human or even merely Jewish categories).33

22. In the Messianic age the Spirit "of God" while he continues to be the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, he is now identified as the Spirit "of Jesus" or the Spirit "of Christ" or the Spirit "of his Son".34  Once more, this he could not be prior to the exaltation of the Christ, but now the Spirit comes in his name.35  So the John 7 passage really says more about Christology than about the Spirit.

23. Additionally, with the arrival of the Christ a new world order has appeared.36  The Christ is no longer a merely earthly figure but a "life giving Spirit"37  and his people are citizens of heaven, in the world but not of it.38  This means not only do they not view Christ in merely human terms, they don't view themselves or anyone else after the flesh.39 Their perspective is now "spiritual," "heavenly," that is, arising from the Spirit.40

24. In Acts 2, the wind and fire, the gift of languages not known to the speakers, the prophetic proclamation and the profusion of miracles connected with Pentecost, is a moment of crisis and new beginning, tangible proofs that these were the days of the Spirit of which the prophets had spoken.41

25. So it was not the presence and work of the Spirit that was new that was known throughout Israel's history and mankind's experience as part of the created order. What was new was the setting in which the Spirit was now at work, the relationship he now sustained to the glorified Christ and his newly created people. The Spirit is forever doing this kind of work, God breathes into Adam [humanity] the "breath" of life and man becomes a living being, God sends the wind [breath, spirit] into dead Israel in the valley of dry bones and a nation is resurrected. What happens in and through Jesus Christ echoes and brings to fullness all that has gone before and is reflected in the texts alluded to.

26. Close to the end of his earthly ministry, Christ told his people that he would send them another Counselor —one they know—who was already "with" them but would be "in" them.42  While it's true that he later speaks of their whole new experience in terms of being "with" them 43  it's still true that he makes a distinction between "with" and "in".44

27.  Jesus was speaking here of the time when the believers would become the new covenanted People and so would become the new temple in which the Christ and his Father would dwell through the Spirit.45 The Spirit was with and in Israel prior to the covenant at Sinai, but with the Sinai events, Israel became something they had not been before. They became a covenant People or nation unto God who now dwelled in and among them as their (senior) covenant partner.

28. This work of Christ, in sending the Spirit [and coming in and as the Spirit] to anoint and indwell the Church, his Body, is what is meant by the phrase "baptized in the Spirit". The phrase is from the Baptist 46 who wants the baptized penitents to know that their Christ is greater than he is. At the appropriate time, the Christ would give them the Spirit or, in the words of John, "he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit."

29. Israel of old and many individuals within it had been anointed before the Christ arrived, but with his coming the purposes and results of the anointings were new, that is, peculiarly focused. They would all come under the heading of glorifying Christ and making him Lord of all and Lord in peoples' lives. The reign of God would rise to its final manifestation in relation to humankind.

30. The anointing of Israel of old with the Spirit, is replaced by the new anointing of a new Israel, who, with Gentiles become the new temple in which God dwells through the Spirit.47 Those who share the faith of Abraham (rather than a place within the Sinaitic covenant), having been baptized into Christ become Abraham's heirs.48

31. This move replaces the Mosaic covenant (which created two families--Jew and Gentile) with a "new" covenant which, in the Christ, makes of the two, "one new man, so making peace".49 Israel is not "dumped" but her covenantal relationship with God is restructured and all people of faith become one with them.

32. By sending the Spirit in Jesus' name and making him available to all who in trusting repentance take on them the name of Christ in baptism, 50  God shows the restructuring work is his. This he does in fulfillment of the words of the prophets, the Baptist and Jesus himself.

33. The Spirit's anointing of Christ's people was all they needed for a complete life with God in the Christ. He provided all things necessary for life and godliness and they needed nothing more! This anointing included gifted men and women who functioned within the Body in various ways.51

34. This is what John had in mind when he spoke of the anointing of the Church with the Holy Spirit who guides the church into all truth.52 No pretended knowledge (via Gnostics or other radicals) is needed to complete them, there are no essentials missing that only the elite have access to. John is not suggesting that each individual has an anointing from the Spirit that makes him/her both infallible and exhaustively taught.

35. It is the New Community that's baptized in the Spirit rather than each independent individual. By virtue of being part of the Community we are indwelled by the Spirit. Salvation and the reception of the Spirit is always personal but they're not available in isolation--only within the covenanted community.

36. Suppose each human has what survives biological death, something we call "spirit" and which is said to dwell in us--we wouldn't dream of saying, "Our spirit dwells only in our brain, our liver or heart" as distinct from, say, our foot or hand. No, our spirit dwells in "us," no particular part of us. Nor would we dream of saying, "Our spirit doesn't dwell in our toes or ears." In saying the spirit dwells in "us" we mean "us" as a corporate whole and not independently in each organ as though we were a collections of independent pieces.

37. There is no "individual" indwelling of the Spirit. There are no "individual" Christians, independent units. It's all right to speak of individual Christians as long as we know they only exist as various parts of a Body. A finger is not the whole body, it is an "individual" part of the body 53 but is an individual "part of the body". We can only speak of a finger or foot or eye in the context of a corporate body.

38. And the indwelling is not any literal tabernacling of the Holy Spirit in us. The "indwelling" is another way of expressing his willingness to identify with and have holy communion with the covenanted Community, the Church. The indwelling is his gracious willingness to be and move among the people as their God in a peculiar covenantal way. "Indwelling" is not to be construed in a spatial sense but in a relatonal sense. We are said to dwell in God as surely as God is said to dwell in us.54

39. Whether the indwelling is "literal" or "figurative" the scriptures teach he indwells us. The good news is he continues to dwell in us and bless us despite our ignorance about the details.

40. Let me summarize:

The Holy Spirit has always been at work, creating, blessing, redeeming, nurturing, guiding, supplying and enlightening.

41. The prophets told of a day when the reign of God would become manifest in the Messiah and that that day would be made clear by the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. That time would be the period of covenant renewal.

42. God's wondrous purposes became fully into view and imminent with the arrival of Jesus of Nazareth in whose life, death, resurrection and glorification the reign of God took on a greater glory than before.

43. The presence and work of the Spirit continued in some ways to be what it had always been, but it now took on a new significance. He became a witness to the glorification of Christ and to the identity of his covenanted people (the Church--made up of all nations). This meant he was working with a new phase of God's purpose and it's that new role that explains much of what is new in the New.

44. The Spirit, who is always the Spirit "of God" is made known as the Spirit "of Christ," "of Jesus" and "of his Son". This was not possible before the glorification of Jesus Christ.

45. The Spirit who had dwelt in the Old Covenant people—and visibly signaled that by the presence of the tabernacle and temple—now dwells in the New Covenant people which is made up of Jews and Gentiles who have received the Messiah.

46. The Christ is said to "baptize in the Holy Spirit" when he sent the Spirit to the new covenanted people in whom he and his Father dwell through the Holy Spirit.

Two more points before concluding this piece.

47. This new role of the Spirit might help explain the "sin against the Holy Spirit" of which Christ spoke.55 For the Jews to reject the earthly Christ was sin but it could later be rectified. To reject the exalted Christ, who is now only experienced through the Holy Spirit, is to sin a sin against the Holy Spirit for which there can be no cure. There was/is no other Christ and there is no other way in which Christ as Lord is brought to the world. To despise the Spirit witness is to close the door to possible salvation..

48. I know of no reason to say, with the majority of writers, that the difference between the Old Covenant and the New is that old covenant saints couldn't keep the covenant because they didn't have the Spirit to enable them. The Spirit, then, is supposed to have been sent to enable new covenant saints to keep the new covenant. I think this is a misunderstanding of the nature of both covenants.

49. The notion that the Old Covenant was "Spiritless" is a blunder and the view that ancient saints lagged behind New Covenant saints in faithfulness, that their love for and devotion to God was inferior and shallow is another blunder. Just by itself, the Hebrew writer's "hall of fame" should put that claim permanently to rest.

50. It's true that new truths were revealed and a new phase of God's purposes arrived with the arrival of the New Covenant manifestation of the kingdom (reign) of God. The work and presence of the Spirit took on a special significance but all his enabling of people in Old Covenant times was just as real as any New Covenant enabling. With the arrival of the "fullness of time" that enabling work had a new thrust and development. It was "eschatological" and related to God's new "end time" people and purposes which were centered in "the last Adam," Jesus Christ.56 All that is true, I think, but it has nothing to do with the depth and genuineness of the faith and devotion of ancient saints created and nurtured by the Spirit. At the ethical level, the glory of their lives was as rich as any in the present. Choose out examples from the New and they can be matched, at least, in the Old.

51. It's not difficult to show formalism, apostasy and immorality in the ancients, but no one in the New Covenant writings condemns these as savagely as prophets in the old. Mere externalism was trashed by the prophets who called on people to have hearts that were circumcised and to give God themselves. Christ himself told us that the whole Old covenant canon could be summed up in the love commands. Paul followed his lead in that.57

52. I'm saying that much of the ignorance we attribute to Israelites under the Mosaic covenant is not theirs--it's ours. I'm saying the Spirit made their lives lovely and sacrificial and God-fearing. I'm saying what is "new" about the work of the Spirit in the new covenantal arrangement has nothing to do with these matters.

1. Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:29-30

2. Genesis 6:3-5

3. Genesis 17:17; 18:11; Romans 4:19 & Galatians 4:29

4. Isaiah 63:10-14

5. See Nehemiah 9:20; Leviticus 26:12-13; Exodus 29:43-46

6. See Exodus 35:10-11, 30-31

7. Numbers 11:10-30

8. See Judges 3:10; 6:34 and other places

9. 1 Samuel 16:13-14; Psalm 51:11

10. Micah 3:8

11. 2 Chronicles 15:1-8

12. Nehemiah 9:30; Zechariah 7:12

13. 1 Peter 1:11

14. See Joel 2:28-29; Jeremiah 31:31-34; 33:19-26; Ezekiel 36:26-28; 37:1-14,24,26-27

15. See Psalm 104, especially verse 30

16. Ezekiel 2:2; 3:4

17. See the piece, Wind of the Spirit

18. Haggai 2:5

19. Zechariah 4:6-10

20. See the works of Max Turner, Millar Burrows and others.

21. Luke 1:13-15

22. Luke 2:25-27

23. Luke 1:35

24. John 7:38-39

25. There is no "given" in the Greek text though the translations are no doubt correct in supplying it. See Acts 19:2 for something similar.

26. John 14:17

27. The cross is seen as an aspect of Christ's glorification. See, for example, John 12:27-28 but Philippians 2:5-11 and 1 Timothy 3:16 would show more can be involved than the atoning death.

28. Acts 2:33

29. John 14:16,26

30. John 14:18,23; 16:7; 1 Corinthians 15:45. Christ retains his humanity, of course--1Timothy 2:5--but it's a glorified humanity. See 1 Corinthians 15:42-50.

31. John 16:5-7; 17:4-5

32. John 14:16, 18,23,26; 16:5-7,16

33. 2 Corinthians 5:16

34. 1 Peter 1:11; Romans 8:9; Acts 16:7; Galatians 4:6

35. John 14:26

36. 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15

37. 1 Corinthians 15:45

38. John 17:14, 16; Philippians 3:30 and Revelation 12:12; 13:6 contrasting "earth dwellers" and "heaven dwellers".

39. 2 Corinthians 5:16

40. This is not to suggest that there was no "spirituality" before the Messianic age, far from it. I'm only saying within the stages of development of God's purposes, the Mosaic age, was categorised as the time "of the flesh" where the Messianic age is "of the Spirit". Prior to the Christian era both Isaac and Ishmael were born in the usual way but it's said that, "the son born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit". See Galatians 4:28-29. 

41. Acts 2:16-18; Joel 2:28-29; Isaiah 44:3; 1 Peter 1:11

42. John 14:17

43. John 14:23

44. While I believe the distinction is intentional here, the point isn't made just by comparing the prepositions. The Spirit was already "in" them as he was "in" Old Covenant prophets--see 

1 Peter 1:11 but I think the passage here speaks of them as the new and indwelt temple soon to be constructed. We don't learn all this simply by comparing the prepositions.

45. Ephesians 2:21-22

46. Mark 1:7-8

47. Ephesians 2:11-20

48. Galatians 3:26-29

49. Ephesians 2:15-16

50. Acts 2:16-39; John 14:26; Galatians 3:9,14

51. 2 Peter 1:3; Ephesians 4:8,11-16; 1 Corinthians 12

52. 1 John 2:20,27; John 16:13

53. See 1 Corinthians 12:17; Romans 12:4

54. John 14:20

55. Matthew 12:31-32 and parallels

56. This simply means that the Messianic age is the "final" age, the "end time," the period to which all earlier dispensations led. When scholars speak of the "eschatological" Spirit they don't mean, of course, it's a different Spirit, only that the renewed and special sense of his presence now relates to the dispensation known as "the end time". 

57. Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

From Gary... About more than just water

Did you every buy something, bring it home and realize what you bought was a big waste of money? This "Diet Water" is a good example. Those who deceive will eventually pay for what they do... and here is an example from the book of Acts...

Acts, Chapter 8

5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ.  6 The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did.  7 For unclean spirits came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.  8 There was great joy in that city. 

  9  But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city, and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one,  10 to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that great power of God.”  11 They listened to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his sorceries.  12 But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.  13 Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles occurring, he was amazed. 

  14  Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,  15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit;  16 for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of Christ Jesus. 17 Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.  18 Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me also this power, that whomever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”  20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!  21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart isn’t right before God.  22 Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.  23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” 

  24  Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken happen to me.” 

Simon thought he was somebody, but even he recognized true power when he saw it. But, instead of just submitting to God, he wanted to buy his way into God's power.  And he was condemned for it. Fortunately, he had enough sense to realize his stupidity to the point of repentance, with his statement of verse 24 being proof of this. The point of all this is... be honest in all that you do- and be careful how you act towards God, for HE holds your eternal destiny in his hands.

From Gary... Bible Reading February 3

Bible Reading  

February 3

The World English Bible

Feb. 3

Genesis 34

Gen 34:1 Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

Gen 34:2 Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her.

Gen 34:3 His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady.

Gen 34:4 Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, "Get me this young lady as a wife."

Gen 34:5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came.

Gen 34:6 Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him.

Gen 34:7 The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; a which thing ought not to be done.

Gen 34:8 Hamor talked with them, saying, "The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.

Gen 34:9 Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

Gen 34:10 You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it."

Gen 34:11 Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give.

Gen 34:12 Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife."

Gen 34:13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister,

Gen 34:14 and said to them, "We can't do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us.

Gen 34:15 Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised;

Gen 34:16 then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

Gen 34:17 But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our sister, and we will be gone."

Gen 34:18 Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.

Gen 34:19 The young man didn't wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father.

Gen 34:20 Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying,

Gen 34:21 "These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

Gen 34:22 Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised.

Gen 34:23 Won't their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let us give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us."

Gen 34:24 All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

Gen 34:25 It happened on the third day, when they were sore, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males.

Gen 34:26 They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away.

Gen 34:27 Jacob's sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.

Gen 34:28 They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field,

Gen 34:29 and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house.

Gen 34:30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house."

Gen 34:31 They said, "Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?"

From Mark Copeland... The Death And Burial Of Jesus (Mark 15:33-47)

                          "THE GOSPEL OF MARK"

                The Death And Burial Of Jesus (15:33-47)

INTRODUCTION

1. Following a night and morning of torture and ridicule, Jesus was
   crucified - Mk 14:53-15:25

2. For six hours as He hung on the cross, the mockery continued 

   - Mk 15:26-32

[We come in our study of the gospel of Mark to the time of our Lord’s
death and burial.  Let us use this time to reflect upon the details of
those events, beginning with...]

I. THE DEATH OF JESUS

   A. THE DARKNESS...
      1. Lasting from the sixth hour (noon) to the ninth hour (3pm) - Mk 15:33
      2. The significance?  Several possibilities:
         a. A sign of mourning
         b. A sign of judgment
         c. A veil covering the shame of the crucifixion

   B. THE CRY OF AGONY...
      1. "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" - Mk 15:34
      2. A proverbial expression of distress from Ps 22:1 - ZIBBC
      3. It is possible that citing the first verse of the psalm refers
         to the entire psalm - ibid.
      4. Psalms 22 begins with bitter despair, but ends with supreme
         confidence - ibid.
      5. This interpretation does not deny the real anguish that Jesus
         experiences but understands his cry as an expression of trust
         that God will intervene and ultimately vindicate him - ibid.

   C. THE MOCKERY AND SYMPATHY...
      1. The mockery seen earlier continues - Mk 15:35-36; cf. Mk 15:29-32
      2. Yet one offers a gesture of sympathy (sponge full of sour wine)
         - Mk 15:36

   D. THE DEATH...
      1. Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last - Mk 15:37
      2. "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" - Lk 23:46
      3. He "yielded up" His spirit (suggesting a voluntary death) - Mt 27:50
      4. Some suggest He died from a ruptured heart, others that it was
         dehydration and loss of blood

   E. THE CURTAIN OF THE SANCTUARY...
      1. The veil of the temple torn in two from top to bottom - Mk 15:38
      2. Likely the veil separating the Holy Place and the Most Holy
         Place
      3. Perhaps indicating the end of the Old Covenant, and beginning
         of the New - He 10:19-20

   F. THE CENTURION...
      1. Observing the manner in which Jesus died, confessed faith in
         Jesus
      2. "Truly this Man was the Son of God!" - Mk 15:39

   G. THE MINISTERING WOMEN...
      1. Looking from afar - Mk 15:40-41
         a. Mary Magdalene
         b. Mary (wife of Clopas) the mother of James the Less and Joses
            - Jn 19:25
         c. Salome - the mother of the sons of Zebedee (James and John)
            - cf. Mt 27:56
         d. Many other women - including Mary the mother of Jesus - Jn 19:25
      2. Women who had followed Jesus
         a. Ministering to Him in Galilee - cf. Lk 8:1-3
         b. Coming with Him to Jerusalem

[Jesus is now dead, His body mangled as it hung on the cross.  Mark now
records for us in his gospel...]

II. THE BURIAL OF JESUS

   A. THE TIME OF THE BURIAL...
      1. "when evening had come", likely late afternoon - Mk 15:42
      2. "the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath",
         i.e., Friday - Mk 15:42

   B. THE REQUEST FOR THE BODY...
      1. Made by Joseph - Mk 15:43
         a. From Arimathea (the city of Ramah, city of Samuel)
         b. Prominent member of the council (Sanhedrin)
         c. Who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God
         d. A rich man - Mt 27:57
         e. A disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews - Mt 27:57; Jn 19:38
      2. Together with Nicodemus - Jn 19:38
         a. A ruler of the Jews who came to Jesus by night - Jn 3:1-2
         b. Also a member of the council - Jn 7:50
         b. Who brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred
            pounds

   C. THE CONFIRMATION AND RELEASE...
      1. To convince Pilate that Jesus was dead - Mk 15:44
      2. Confirmed by the centurion, the body was released - Mk 15:45

   D. THE BURIAL...
      1. The body was wrapped in fine linen - Mk 15:46
      2. Laid in a new tomb hewn out of rock, located in a garden - Jn 19:40-42
      3. A stone rolled against the door of the tomb

   E. THE WOMEN...
      1. Mary Magdalene and Mary of Joses observed where He was laid
         - Mk 15:47
      2. They left, prepared spices and fragrant oils, then rested on
         the Sabbath - Lk 23:55-56

CONCLUSION

1. Thus Jesus, the Son of God, gave His life for our sins and was buried;
   but the story is not over, in our next lesson we will read of His
   amazing resurrection from the dead...

2. Until then, remember what we should learn from this death of
   Jesus... - cf. He 12:2-3; 1Pe 2:21-25

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

 

"Technicalities" by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=1258

"Technicalities"

by	Dave Miller, Ph.D.

“Are you telling me that just because I don’t belong to your church, or just because I haven’t been baptized into the remission of sins, or just because I use the instrument when I worship God, or just because I don’t attend every worship service, or just because I don’t partake of the Lord’s Supper every Sunday—that I can’t make it to heaven? I can’t believe that God would condemn me on a technicality! Besides, that’s legalistic!”

Many, many religious people are characterized by this attitude. Their perceptions of God and His grace serve to minimize the necessity of being overly concerned about strict obedience to every command of God. This attitude is manifested in the idea that arriving at correct doctrine is irrelevant to establishing a right relationship with God. But this is precisely what the Bible teaches. Doctrinal purity does not necessarily guarantee a right relationship with God, but a right relationship with God is impossible without doctrinal purity. Both “spirit and truth” (i.e., proper attitude and proper adherence to truth—John 4:24) are essential to a right relationship with God. Even if some religious individuals give the impression that they have gone “overboard” on truth, yet with insufficient attention to proper attitude, no solution is achieved by abandoning, compromising, or softening adherence to truth in an effort to accept those who are determined to remain unconformed to truth.

The very nature of God and truth is at stake in this discussion. Truth, by its very definition, is narrow, specific, fixed, and technical. God is a God of truth Who operates within the parameters of truth. Since He is God, He does not, and cannot, vary from truth and right. Man’s definition of what constitutes a “technicality” rarely matches God’s definition. More often than not, the very items that humans brush aside as unimportant and trivial, are those things upon which God lays great importance. Herein lies the crux of man’s problem. We decide what we think is important, and then proceed to structure our religion around those self-stylized premises, assuming divine sanction and “grace.” Never mind the fact that “it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). Never mind the fact that “the wisdom of this world” is foolish to God (1 Corinthians 1:20). And never mind the fact that such an attitude and approach betrays great arrogance.

In everyday living, we understand very well the principle that those things that appear to be trivial or mere technicalities can be crucial to survival. The incorrect dosage of medicine in a medical emergency—even milligrams—can mean the difference between life and death. One or two miles over the speed limit can secure the offender a ticket. Accidentally putting gasoline into a diesel engine can ruin an automobile. I suppose one could label each of these examples as “technicalities,” but doing so does not alter the magnitude of their importance or the extent to which they impact reality.

In biblical history, the same principle holds true. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden for eating from one piece of fruit from one tree (Genesis 3). Nadab and Abihu—the right boys, at the right place, at the right time, with the right censers and the right incense—nevertheless were destroyed for incorporating foreign fire into their incense offering (Leviticus 10:1-2). Moses was excluded from entrance into the Promised Land because of his one mistake at Kadesh—striking a rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20:7-12). Saul was deposed as king for sparing the best sheep and cattle, and the life of one individual out of an entire nation (1 Samuel 15). Uzzah was struck dead for merely reaching out and steadying the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:6-7). God rejected Uzziah because he entered the temple, merely to burn incense (2 Chronicles 26).

Many more examples could be considered. These are no more “technical” or “trivial” than New Testament regulations pertaining to vocal (as opposed to instrumental) music in worship (Ephesians 5:19), unleavened bread and fruit of the vine at the Lord’s Table (Matthew 26:26-29), and the qualifications of elders and deacons (1 Timothy 3:1-13). We must refrain from attempting to second-guess God, or deciding for ourselves what we think is important to Him—“that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). We need to be attentive to “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27)—even those portions that humans deem unimportant or peripheral. When people are clamoring, “Those matters are not salvation issues,” we need to reaffirm the words of Jesus, “These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Matthew 23:23).

From Jim McGuiggan... Blasphemy of the Spirit

Blasphemy of the Spirit

I think Matthew 12:22-32 (and parallels) is quite a bit more complicated than a matter of  non-repentance though that is part of the picture. I think the crime is a peculiarly Jewish one because they experienced Jesus in his earthly ministry and his ministry in and as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was always at work in the Lord Jesus [see Acts 10:37-38] but his glorification and exaltation the Holy Spirit  becomes Jesus' peculiar representative and witness [see Acts 2:33 and elsewhere]. And what you make of this somewhat repetitive piece.

1. Jesus makes a distinction between sin against him as "the Son of Man" and sin against the Spirit.

2. If it were simply a question of non-repentance then the distinction would not be a valid one.

3. If they remained non-repentant they could not be forgiven when they sin against either.

4. I'm sure we're dealing with two-phases of the redeeming work of God.

5. The two are: the earthly ministry of Jesus and his ministry in the new age (the eternal age) when the Spirit does his work in presenting the exalted and glorified Jesus to them (and to us).

6. For them to reject Jesus during his earthly ministry there was the possibility that they could be forgiven during the age of the Spirit, which was the age to come (Acts 2:23, 33-38 and Hebrews 2:5).

7. Reject Jesus when he comes in and through and as the Holy Spirit and there is no other manifestation of Jesus to come.

8. The era of "the flesh" ended when Jesus died in and to the flesh and the era of the Spirit began when as the exalted Lord Jesus sends and comes in the Holy Spirit to indwell them. Be sure to see 1 Peter 3:18 and Romans 1:3. When they sinned in the new age they sinned during the final age in which they can find forgiveness—that is, in the age when the Holy Spirit represents the Savior. 

9. In this text [Matthew 12:22-32] "this world" is the era of "the flesh" during which Jesus carries out his redeeming work in "the body of his flesh" (compare Ephesians 2:15) and "the world to come" is when he carries out his redeeming work in and through the Spirit (see texts below).

   The passage seems to suggest that blaspheming the Spirit is worse than blaspheming Jesus, since one is forgivable and the other isn’t. But if both Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are both part of the Godhead why would one sin be regarded worse than the other?

   Is it because the Son of Man is merely human and that we can be forgiven for blaspheming a human but not for blaspheming deity? Probably not. Jesus made it clear that when we dishonor him we dishonor the Father. It isn’t hard to find Israel (and other nations) attributing God’s righteous work to their gods or Israel’s own wisdom. Nor is it difficult to find Israel and the nations saying evil things of God (Assyria did but Jonah says they were forgiven when they repented). Nor is it difficult to find Israel attributing the Spirit’s work in the prophets to some vile source. [You'll remember the "golden calf" incident when Israel said, "Here is your God, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt"—Exodus 32:4 when in fact it was the Holy Spirit that led them through the wilderness to Canaan—Isaiah 63:7, 10-11, 14.]

   Maybe it’s not a question of “worse” and maybe it’s not a question of humanity or divinity. My judgment is that it has to do with the nature of God’s revelation of himself and his purposes. I don’t think the big issue is in the word “blaspheme". I don’t think attributing Christ’s miracles to a satanic source is the peculiar way to blaspheme the Spirit.

   Once more, here’s what I think we're dealing with. There are two phases of God's redeeming work in Jesus. The first phase is what Jesus did during his "earthly ministry" in the body of his flesh and the second phase is what is accomplished in his present post-resurrection and glorified state when he presents himself to the world in and through the Holy Spirit.

   To redeem the world and bring it life God came in and as Jesus Christ, who was born of a woman and under the Torah. Like the rest of his people (and humanity) he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3, John 1:14 and Galatians 4:4) though, of course, he lived in positive, sinless holiness to the Holy Father. But that was the initial phase of God’s self-unveiling in Jesus Christ--in flesh, in Jewish flesh. In the purpose of God and to bring the world to glory he must die to the flesh so in his fleshly body he died to reconcile the world and bring immortality (note Ephesians 2:15). “The flesh” (with all its Adamic and peculiarly Jewish connections) must be lived through and overcome. Christ said to the Jews “the flesh profits nothing” (John 6:62-63). He is put to death in flesh and made alive in spirit (see 1 Peter 3:18 and compare 2 Corinthians 13:4 and 1 Corinthians 15:44-49). Christ is the Redeemer unveiled as part of the old Adamic structure (see Luke 3:37), he dies to it and rises as the new and last Adam.

   Now the still human (but no longer “fleshly” in the old Adamic sense, subject to death and the like) the exalted and glorified Jesus Christ reveals himself to them in and through the Holy Spirit. See passages like John 14:18-27, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 and Ephesians 2:22. And take a really close look at Acts 3:19-21 (maybe I can say something about this text later).

   There are two phases of the self-revelation of the Redeemer. One in “the flesh” (an earthy ministry as a child of Adam like the rest of us) and it took place in “this age” (the age prior to the Messianic age). To reject, vilify and crucify him during his time in the flesh could be forgiven (see Acts 2:23, 37-38) because he would come again in and through and as the Holy Spirit. But to reject and vilify (crucify him again) when he finally presents himself in and through the Spirit is to reject the final self-revelation of Jesus available to them and to judge themselves "unworthy of eternal life" (Acts 13:46 with Acts 2:33). To reject the exalted and immortal Jesus is to reject the new creation of which he is the Author and that is to sin against the new order, the new world but more to the point, it is to sin against the Holy Spirit who came to bring the exalted Jesus to the hearts of men (see Acts 3:19-22, John 14:15-18,23 and 16:13-15). To reject the glorified and risen Christ is to reject the full, final and exhaustive revelation of the Holy Spirit in and through whom Christ himself appeals to the world— that is unforgivable. It’s unforgivable because there is no other self-revelation of God. A merely earthly, subject to death Jesus Christ, is not enough to redeem the world. He must also be raised in glory (see Romans 4:25 and John 6:62-63 and 16:7-8).

   But what if people repent? Why, then, they are forgiven! But they cannot repent while rejecting the only revelation of Jesus there is. We need to remember that if they persisted throughout until death to blaspheme the Son of Man there would have been no forgiveness. “Except you believe that I am he you will die in your sins,” he said in one place. No, he isn’t saying that if they reject the Spirit that they would become incapable of repentance under any circumstances. He’s saying (if I understand him correctly), “You can reject me now in this phase of my self-revelation and find forgiveness when I later reveal myself in and through the Holy Spirit as the exalted and glorified Lord. But you can’t reject my self-revelation in and through the Spirit and find forgiveness later because there is no other form or phase of revelation. You shut the door against yourselves.”

Summarizing then:

1. If they rejected [until they died] Jesus during his earthly ministry—his ministry in the flesh—they would not have been forgiven.

2. If they reject him [until they died] during his ministry in the Spirit in his present exalted and glorified state—they would not be forgiven.

3. If they rejected him during his earthly ministry and then received him during his ministry in the Spirit (as they did in Acts 2) they could be forgiven.

4. If they rejected him during his final ministry through the Holy Spirit they could no forgiveness.

Note the similarities (though there are differences) to all this in Hebrews 10:26-29.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.