Category Archives: BIBLE

BIBLE, BIBLE QUESTIONS, EXODUS

WHAT DOES THE SECOND COMMANDMENT MEAN TO CHRISTIANS? — BOB PRICHARD

The second of the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20, gives timeless principles concerning God’s attitude about worship. Christians, who are “delivered from the law” (Romans 7:6-7), learn principles from the Ten Commandments that allow them to live under the better covenant of Christianity (Hebrews 8:6-7) 

The commandment reads: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6). Israel had to understand clearly that God would not tolerate idolatry. 

Idolatry, the worship of a creature, or inanimate object, seems inherently absurd to the modern mind. While modern man might not carve a statue, and then bow before it as ancient man did, he still has his idols, the false gods he worships. The problem of the idolater is not so much the idol as it is the spiritual blindness of the idolater. To place anything above God, whether it be possessions, family, occupation, or leisure activity, is to become an idolater. It has been well observed that sometimes the modern churchgoer may have his true god parked outside the place of worship. 

The command forbids making graven images to represent God to a worshipper. No image can ever “capture” God. As Paul told the Athenians, who worshipped so many gods, including an “unknown god,” “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:29-30). God’s Word must always govern worship to Him, because man has always had a tendency to worship the thing rather than the One Whom it represents. Despite God’s care of Israel, they easily slipped back into an idolatrous way of thinking. On one occasion they took the ark of the covenant into battle against the Philistines, as a sort of “good luck charm,” and wound up losing the ark, as well as the battle (1 Samuel 4). They also began to worship the bronze serpent Moses raised as a symbol of salvation (Numbers 21:4-9), so that King Hezekiah had to destroy it with the other marks of idolatry (2 Kings 18:4). 

The commandment gives a lengthy “enforcement statement,” which stresses that God will not share His people with any other god, but will bless all those who do His will. As Jesus met with the woman at the well, who wanted to sidestep the discussion of her checkered past, He reminded her, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Jesus warned that worship is vain when men worship God “teaching for doctrine the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9). Blessings for future generations depend on proper worship today! 

BIBLE, BIBLE QUESTIONS, OLD TESTAMENT

WHAT DOES THE FIRST COMMANDMENT MEAN TO CHRISTIANS? — BOB PRICHARD

The Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20, form the basis for modern western civilization. In their summary of the proper attitude to God and one another, they provide fundamental concepts that allow people to function in obedience to God. The relevance of the Ten Commandments for the Christian lies in the timeless principles they describe. Paul explained that the Christian is no longer bound by the old covenant, including the ten commandments, because Christ brought the Jew and the Gentile together, “having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Ephesians 2:15). In giving His life, Christ was “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2.14). Christians are “delivered from the law” (Romans 7:6-7) to live under the better covenant of Christianity (Hebrews 8:6-7). 

The first commandment emphasizes that God must be first in the life of His children. “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:1-3). As God reminded Israel that He had delivered them from Egyptian bondage, the first commandment demands, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

The Israelites lived in a world of many gods vying for the allegiance of men. God demanded that they recognize Him and Him alone as God. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” is literally “Thou shalt have no other gods before my face.” Just as a woman with two husbands would be unacceptable to either husband, God demands undivided loyalty from all who claim to follow Him. The Jews could not adopt the pagan practices of their neighbors and maintain the purity God demanded. Peter and the other apostles understood the principle, refusing to be silenced by the Sanhedrin, saying, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). In like manner, Christ demanded undivided loyalty from His followers. “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38). 

The command, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” is also a demand for wholehearted love. God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage, and today He redeems mankind from the bondage of sin. The magnificence of His creation and the sacrifice of Christ for us shows that He truly is worthy of our love. Jesus summed up the proper attitude to the Father: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’” (Matthew 22:37-39). If we do this, we can truly insure that we put no other gods before Him. 

BIBLE, BIBLE QUESTIONS

WHAT DOES “NO SCRIPTURE IS OF PRIVATE INTERPRETATION” MEAN? — BOB PRICHARD

Peter concludes the first chapter of his second epistle with these words. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake us they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:19-21). These verses of scripture are especially important because of what they tell us about the inspiration of scripture, reminding us that we have a “sure word of prophecy,” that is, trustworthy scriptures.

Unfortunately, the words, “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation,” have been misused by some religious organizations to keep people from studying the scriptures for themselves. Some prefer to keep the people in ignorance, teaching that the individual Christian cannot study or understand the scriptures themselves, but must rely on “the church” or church leaders to interpret the scriptures for them. Thus individuals may think there is no reason to study and reason for themselves. This is contrary to all the rest of the scripture, however. Saving faith comes from understanding and obeying the scriptures. All will be judged by the scriptures. 

Some suggest that what Peter was teaching in these verses is that since the words of scripture have a definite meaning, then those who interpret scripture are not free to read whatever meaning they want to into the scriptures, but must consider the context of scripture. Surely it is true that no one should be free to read into the scriptures any of their own personal opinions, and context must always be considered, but this is not Peter’s concern in this passage.

There is a better, more reasonable way to understand the words. Consider the rendering of 2 Peter 1:20-21 in the New American Standard Version: “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” The prophecy of scripture did not come “by the will of man.” “No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will.” The prophets were inspired to write by God, and did not just speak what they wanted to speak, but they spoke what was revealed to them by God. That is the reason for the amazing accuracy of the teaching of scripture, and the agreement among the different writers. If each had been free to just write what he wanted to write, then there would be multiplied contradictions among all of the different portions of scripture. 

The “holy men” were “moved by the Holy Ghost,” literally “borne along” just as a strong wind propels a ship through the sea. Jesus told his disciples, “when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, thst shall he speak: und he will show you things to come” (John 16:13) As the New Testament writers revealed the full truth of God’s revelation, the Holy Spirit guided them. Their message is one for all men study, obey, and live by.

BIBLE, BIBLE QUESTIONS

ARE THERE “LOST BOOKS” OF THE BIBLE? — BOB PRICHARD

We have long understood that the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament make up God’s complete revelation to man. The Bible does mention other ancient books, however. Joshua 10:13 says, “The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher?” Among the other books mentioned are the acts of Solomon (1 Kings 14:11), the books of Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer (1 Chronicles 29:29), and the books of Shemaiah the prophet and Iddo the seer (2 Chronicles 12:15). Even more interesting, in 1 Corinthians 5:9, Paul mentions a previous epistle: “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators.” Was the epistle telling them not to company with fornicators the original 1 Corinthians? Paul also wrote to the Christians of Colossae, “And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea” (Colossians 4.16). What is the “epistle from Laodicea”? 

The sixty-six books that make up the canon [meaning those measured] of scripture, are those books that have met the test of time, and have apostolic authority. For example, Peter warned that some of Paul’s writings are hard to understand, and thus sometimes twisted, as “also the other scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16). Thus He considered Paul’s writings to be scripture [inspired writings]. The books accepted in the canon claim inspiration for themselves, and the early Christians verified that inspiration by examining their content. These books also received virtual universal acceptance in the early church. 

We rely on the wisdom of the Jews of the first century to help in deciding which books belonged in the Old Testament canon, and the judgments of numerous early Christians help us in seeing what was accepted and rejected among the writings of the New Testament era. Among the books circulated by the early Christians, but rejected from the canon were the fourteen books of the Apocrypha. Philo of Alexandria ordered these books to be translated with the Septuagint, the Greek language translation of the Old Testament in use in the first century, but the Jews never considered them to be scripture. Many other ancient books were also considered  but rejected from the canon. Some, such as “Wisdom of Solomon,” and “Shepherd of Hermas” can be read today, but they are not inspired. In modern times, books such as the book of Mormon and other writings of Joseph Smith have been rejected because they conflict with known scripture and do not have the earmarks of inspired scripture.

Many of the books mentioned above, such as the book of Jasher, are lost. But simply being mentioned in scripture does not mean that they were inspired. Paul’s early epistle to the Corinthians apparently contained nothing that God has not repeated elsewhere in scripture. There are virtually no Bible doctrines that rely on just one mention in scripture. The “epistle from the Laodiceans” was probably just a letter from the church of Laodicea, and not scripture at all. Peter tells us that God has “given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Thus we have all the scripture God intended us to have in the sixty-six books of today’s Bible. It would no doubt be interesting to read some of the “lost books,” but they would not add to God’s revelation to us. We need no other new revelations or other ancient books to give us what we need to please God.

BIBLE

WRITING IN BOOKS — BOB PRICHARD

Bev Ellis, an Australian book store owner was understandably upset when a customer told her a strange man had been defacing many of the store’s Stephen King books by writing in them. She was surprised to catch up with the man in a nearby Woolworth’s and find out that it was Stephen King himself, who had autographed the books (World, September 18, 2007).

Having bought many used books over the years, I am always irritated to find that a previous owner has underlined or highlighted the book, but I am glad to find a book that has been autographed by the author. I realize that defacing the book by underlining lowers the value, but the autograph of the author increases the value.

It would be marvelous if “Original autographs” [the original manuscripts] of some of our Bible books could be found among the thousands of extant manuscripts, but apparently none have ever surfaced. Verification of an original autograph would be a sensation in the archaeological world, no doubt.

Paul apparently used a scribe to write down most of his epistles, although he indicates several times that he personally wrote down a part. “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand” (Galatians 6:21). “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write” (2 Thessalonians 3:17).

Moses told Israel, “the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly” (Deuteronomy 9:10).

Every page of the Bible demonstrates the autograph of God. It is more than coincidence that the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119, is devoted to praise for the written word of God. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).