Category Archives: Bible Study

Work of His Hands

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The work of His hands.  cropped-flowers-1.jpg

A comforting idea that is in poems, sermons, and song is that we are “the works of God’s hands.”  Job and David both used this beautiful idea in their writings, but with two different perspectives. We will start with Job.

In Job 10:3 Job is answering one of his tormentors, Bildad, in his third discourse of his book.  Job’s bitterness is evident in this discourse; it is directed at Bildad and God.  (Job 9:33, part of the discourse, is a plea for the work of Jesus as being an arbitrator.)  The end of verse three is still directed at God and says, “While you (God) smile on the schemes of the wicked.(NIV)”  If we look at the original words we find the word “work” with slightly different meanings.  The word work in Job is ygiya it carries the idea of hard toiling/labor.  This fits in with the general tone of how Job is viewing himself and his relationship with God at that moment in his life. It is not pretty and Job is upset.

David uses the phrase in Psalm 138:8.  David uses a different word for work, his is maaseh and it still means work or labor but Vine’s Dictionary says it has to do with farming, artisans working, or the work of praising God.  It has a positive context as compared to ygiya. This fits very well with Psalm 138 and its overall upbeat message.

Even though the general tone of Psalm 138 is positive I can’t help but think it was written at a time when David needed to encourage himself. (ex. After Bathsheba, when he was on the run from Absalom, or when Ziklag was burned.)  It seems he is reminding himself and God of things that he has done and has happened. So the last line of verse eight with the word “abandon” in it puzzled me; it is the reason I think it was written during a time of duress.  It speaks to David’s plea not to be left alone at this time.

“The work of God’s hand.” Two men both referring to themselves as God’s handiwork, but I believe both from a different mindset.

Christmas – Two Questions

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Christmas – Two Questions

“How can I be sure of this?  I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” – Zechariah (Luke 1:18)

“How can this be, since I am­­ a virgin?” – Mary (Luke 1:34)

Two visits from the angel Gabriel, two “fear nots”, two explanations, two questions, and two different human responses are the start of the Christmas story.  The first chapter of Luke introduces us to Zechariah and Mary and how both got news about babies from the angel Gabriel.  Zechariah’s news comes as response from prayer, but you get the idea that it did not show up when he expected it too.  In fact it seems many years late according to Zechariah.  Mary’s news is completely unexpected, a little troubling, but received by a willing heart.

After some struggling with these two stories, some underlining, and looking up some words I am going to try and write this blog and what may seem an unfair situation. It took me a while to understand that Father God had His timetable and His will was carried out for both Zechariah and Mary.

Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth had prayed for a child, God had heard that prayer and was answering it, but not according to human thinking. (Mary was not ready, who knows she may not have even been born when they were praying for a child.)  Zechariah got the news of a lifetime, in the Holy of Holies, from an angel that startled and caused fear in the old man.  His response of unbelief is reflected in his question and probably in body language but it had to be in his heart as well.  So even though he was silenced for nine months Father God still used him and answered the pray. In my thinking Zechariah was treated unfairly until I studied Mary’s part of the story.

Both, Zechariah and Mary’s story are very similar.  Gabriel introduces himself and both Nativity_Scenes002get a “fear not.”  Both are told they will have a baby and are given some explanation, and then both ask their question.  The difference with Mary is that she gladly accepted the news (vs. 38).  The terms that help put light on this was “highly favored” (charitoo) and “favor” (charis).  According to my Strong’s/Vine’s Concordance favor is a gift from the “giver’ of the favor but needs to be received with thanksgiving.  I think it would have been a different story for Zechariah if he had praised and thanked God for the news before he asked his question.

The term charitoo is used only twice in the New Testament here with Mary and then again in Ephesians 1:6.  In Ephesians it is in connection with “us” being adopted as sons so that we can receive “every spiritual blessing.”  I find no mistake that charitoo is in the same verse as the words grace and praise.  Here it is translated as “freely given.”  The concordance adds an interesting note for the Ephesians verse; it says that “grace is a free gift” while “favor may be deserved or gained.”

My personal take away now is there is a big difference between answered prayer and favor.  I hope that I can be like Mary and Elizabeth (vs. 25) and praise God with a thankful heart for the things that show up in my life.

Pic.  http://clipart.christiansunite.com/

Psalm 138 to 145 – David’s Journey

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Psalm 138 to 145

This group of psalms (138 to 145) has recently got my attention.  They are in the Book Five of Psalms and are with the psalms known as the “Songs of Ascent.”  These were songs that pilgrims sang as they went up to Jerusalem and the Temple.  Outside of Books One and Two, this is the largest grouping of psalms attributed to David the writer.  The original subtitles are in my NIV and many Bibles like my Holman Study Bible add their own titles to give people a sense of the contents of the psalm.

These psalms were probably grouped by whoever did the editing and grouping of the psalms into the form we know today.  I like to think about where and when psalms were written and read them in those possible contexts.  Only Psalm 142 gives you a time frame and that is “in the cave” referring to David’s outlaw days (1 Samuel 22) when he was hiding from King Saul.  Two (139, 140) are “for the director of music” which may indicate that they were written after he went to Jerusalem, three (141, 143, 145) are identified as a “psalm of David”, and Psalms 138 and 144 are just “of David.”

The first verse or two in each of these Psalms gives you a good idea of why they were written.  Most are truly songs of praise or thanksgiving but they seem to have been written at crucial or highlight points in David’s life.   I guess I have started to look at them as a journey through David’s life.  Psalm 138 could have been after Samuel anointed him and they go to Psalm 145 that has the sound of an older mature king who is looking back at his life and wanting his people to look ahead to the life and purpose in God.

Faint/Overwhelmed

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Faint/Overwhelmed

You are not sure how much you can take? If one more thing goes wrong! Can I just stop and think for a moment, please? It has been bleak for so long when will things get better?

The Hebrew word that might describe your condition in all of these is ataph. In the KJV it is translated “overwhelmed” and in the NIV it is rendered “faint.” My Strong’s Concordance states that it means being shrouded or clothed and extends from the idea of darkness. The word ataph is not the only word for “faint” but it caught my eye in Psalm 142:3 and 143:4. Ataph is also used in Psalm 61:2, 77:3, and in 102:Title. I often test the definition back into the passage, so I tried: overwhelmed and shrouded in darkness. Both caught the idea of the verse and I liked overwhelmed better than faint in those verses.

In Psalm 142 and 143 David is having a bad time because in both of these “his spirit was faint” (NIV). Psalm 142 is identified as when David was “in the cave.” I associate that time with 1 Samuel 22 which is right before the saving of Keilah (see Hero to Horror). Several of the psalms in this section (138 to 145) I would place in that period of time before Keilah. Psalms 138 to 145 are all attributed to David. This section of Book Five of the Psalms has been referred to as the “Songs of Ascent.” These would have been sung as people went to the Temple.

David faced many ataph moments in his life but the most telling one on how he handled these overwhelming times is 1 Samuel 30:6b – “David found strength in the Lord his God.”

Faith

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I looked up the word “faith” in my Strong’s Concordance/Vines Bible dictionary and this is

Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 8.59.35 AMwhat I found.

In the Greek, the most used word for faith is pistis, which deals the concept of truth or the truthfulness of God.

The word “faith” in the King James Bible is used mostly in the New Testament. In the KJV it is used twice in the Old Testament. Once in Deuteronomy 32: 20 where Moses is describing the Children of Israel that came out of Egypt as having no faith. The other use is in Habakkuk 2:4 “the righteous one will live by his faith.” (HCSB)

The number of times the word “faith” is used in the KJV is interesting – 247. It might be trying to tell us something. Faith should be a 24/7 thing in our lives.

The spelling of our English word also carries an interesting message. The letter “I” is in the middle of the word. So “I” better stay in faith.