Posts

Some tested the Lord and perished by snakes.

  Some tested the Lord and perished by snakes.   1 Corinthians 10:9-11: “ Some of them tested the Lord and perished by snakes. Let us not test (epeirasan) as they did. Some of them grumbled and perished by the destroyer. Do not grumble as they did. These things happened to them as examples, and they were written to warn us who live in the last days. ”   This content is from Numbers chapter 21. The cause of their destruction was testing God and grumbling. God had the Israelites depart from Mount Hor and travel along the Red Sea route, bypassing the land of Edom. They complained to God, asking why He made them take a detour when they could have reached Canaan by going straight without the detour, and there was nothing to eat in the wilderness. Consequently, God sent fiery serpents to bite the people, resulting in the death of many Israelites from snake bites. When the devil tempted Jesus, in the second temptation, he said that if Jesus jumped from the roof of a buil...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do not become idolaters

  Do not become idolaters   1 Corinthians 10:4-7: “ They all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But God was not pleased with most of them, so they perished in the wilderness. This was to serve as an example for us, so that we may not delight in evil as they did. Do not become idolaters, as some of them were, as it is written: ‘ The people sit down to eat and drink, and rise up to dance. ’”   When the people who had left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea entered the wilderness, they had nothing to eat, so God gave them manna that came down from heaven to eat. Manna symbolizes Christ. And when they grumbled against Moses because there was no water, God commanded a stone to produce water so they could drink; that stone is Christ. The point is that while those baptized within the church hear God's spiritual word and gain hope for the Kingdom of God, just as the majority of the Israelites per...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do Not Muzzle an Ox While It Treads Out Grain (Quoting the Old Testament)

  Do Not Muzzle an Ox While It Treads Out Grain (Quoting the Old Testament)   1 Corinthians 9:5-10 "Do we not have the right to take along wives who are sisters in faith, as the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas do? Do Barnabas alone not have the right to work? Who serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink its milk? Am I speaking this according to human custom? Does not the Law also speak this? For it is written in the Law of Moses, 'Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain.' Does God not care for oxen? Does He not speak for us? Indeed, it is written for us: 'The plowman plows with hope, and the thresherer threshs with hope of sharing in the harvest.'"   Deuteronomy 25:4 "Do not muzzle an ox while it threshs grain." Plowing and It is only natural for a working ox to eat. Whether a soldier or a farmer, they perform their work because the...
Post a Comment
Read more

You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

  You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.   1 Corinthians 9:1-3: "Am I not a free man? Am I not an apostle? Have you not seen Jesus our Lord? Is it not you who have done my work in the Lord? Though I may not be an apostle to others, to you I am an apostle. You are the seal (sphrachies) of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense (apologia) against those who criticize me."   At that time, Christians did not regard Paul as an apostle. However, Paul speaks by citing several points. He asserts that an apostle is one sent by Jesus. Paul met Jesus in Damascus. Furthermore, he asks whether he did not cause the members of the Corinthian church to receive the Holy Spirit. These could serve as criteria for being recognized as an apostle at that time.   "Sphrachies" ( σφραγ ίς ) means to stamp a seal. This implies that the Corinthian church was the one with the largest number of members who received the baptism of the Holy Spirit after Paul preached t...
Post a Comment
Read more