My Purpose or agenda is to encourage people to study their Bible readings and the sermons they listen to during the week. I will get to the term “purpose” in the New Testament because that is where my study, this morning, landed. My study did not start out there and to be honest, it went all over the place, but it was good, and I had great takeaways.
Because I have used the word purpose in this post, I feel it is important for you to believe Exodus 34:5-7. Knowing and believing He is a good God has to be your foundation. Having questions and problems is part of our journey in the Way. God said all of these things to Moses after he messed up big time. In a moment of anger, he literally broke all of the commandments at one time. (That is a little Mark humor.) it is about two years since the burning bush and Moses is still learning God and His ways. God invited Moses back up the mountain, anger and all, to teach him about Himself and reissue the Law to the Community.
My study, this morning, started with the word pagan. A person said it came from the phrase “the people of the country” or those who lived outside the cities. I found that pagan, heathen, and Gentile in the New Testament are the same word and that translators change the word ethnikos and ethnos to fit their writing. God bless translators who are trying to do right. Not every Christian likes to think they were a pagan or a heathen at one time in their life. (Take away #1.)
That led to the thought there may be agendas attached to writing, translations, and sermons. So, I looked up the word agenda in Bible Gateway. I did not find it except in the Amplified version, and they seemed to be in the commentaries they like to add. But that brought me to purpose.
Purpose (one of several words for that idea) in the First Testament is H 6098, in Strong’s, and is translated as counsel, plan, or purpose. Take some time to study that word, you won’t be sorry.
In the Gospels and the Epistles, the Greek word prothesis and its various forms are translated as purpose and shewbread. That is the twelve loaves that are associated with the Tabernacle. The number is G 4286 and use this as a reference: πρόθεσις | billmounce.com. That word looks like prosthesis or artificial joints and limbs, I am not sure of the etymology and if they are related.
Shewbread and God’s purpose for my life being related is my second and big takeaway. Those loaves in the Tabernacle, that were eaten by the priest, were there to keep the Tribes before God. My Strong’s/Vine’s concordance draws a conclusion about it representing God’s plan for our daily bread. I appreciate that thought, but mine goes in a different direction. My purpose, like those loaves, is always before the Father. He has a plan for me and will see it to completion, Amen and Amen.
The Gospels and Hebrews are the books with the shewbread, and Paul’s Epistles and Acts use the word purpose.
My morning study did not end there. Bread is H 3899 and is lechem. From another study I read Deuteronomy 29:6 which says the Children had eaten no bread in their wanderings around the desert. That word has many working meanings; I will go with the grain the bread is made from. Friendly dealings with neighbors were not happening, so how could they get grain? Manna could be the answer, it was boiled or baked. It is possible they may have grown it but that is iffy. I know the Law was for then and the future, so consider Exodus 25:30 and Leviticus 24:5. The bread of the Presence was to always be before God and the twelve loaves had to come from the finest flour.
My purpose for the prothesis is to ask your opinion. During the time of wandering did they use manna for those thirty-eight years, or trade, or grow grain to make those large, round loaves of bread?
