Artos in the Book of Matthew

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Artos is the Greek word for bread and loaves (Strong’s G 740), and I like using Matthew as a reference point. There are kernels of truth in many other verses in the New Testament about bread, and if you look into the Hebrew, you will find lechem. The town of Bethlehem is the town of bread. So, grab a donut or make a sandwich, and let’s start studying bread. ἄρτος | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

Matthew 6:11, which is in the center of the Lord’s Prayer and started this study, that will be another post. After having sliced through the crust of this topic, I found many questions that needed looking at. But we will start in Matthew 4.

Jesus was fasting and the “tempter” started his grinding attacks with a “what if”. The challenge was to make bread. Elegant sermons abound for this story, and I will not attempt to match them. So, I am going to ask questions. Why stones? Stones indicate that man had used them for something. I would expect rocks to be out in the wilderness. Why bread? I love the smell of fresh bread, but what about the fragrant aroma of beef, lamb, or bird? (Check Leviticus 1, all of those are parts of sacrifices.) Jesus’ answer, in verse 4 may give us a clue or open the bag for several metaphors for bread used in Matthew and beyond. Bread, leavened or not, barley, or wheat (See Ruth 2) were the mainstay of the diet, in Egypt they even used baked bread to make the beer. We should fill our larders every day with the words of God so we can taste the righteousness and get strength from the grace that Jesus opened up to us.

I think it is fair to take a Muse Moment and look at 7:9 when in the Sermon Jesus flips the pan and asks who would give his son a stone instead of bread. The word again is lithos and not petra. Jesus is our petra, but when man “handled Him” He became the cornerstone that would cause them to stumble.

I am not leaving out any ingredients in this study, just mixing them in a slightly different order. My next stop is 12:4 where Jesus is not getting along with the Pharisees because of heads of grain. Those heads of grain put this story between Passover and the Feast of Trumpets. It had to be a carefully measured walk also because it was on the Sabbath and the Pharisees were tagging along. David and the Shewbread or Bread of the Presence and breaking the Law is the main sticking point this time. That consecrated bread is what was put into the Tabernacle to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus’ point is that He is the Lord of the Sabbath and that the Sabbath is not the lord of man. This is not a license to not rest with God one day a week, just do not make more rules to follow. Love God and love man is more than enough.

My guess is that those twelve loaves were made of barley (See Judges and the story of Gideon.) The recipe for those loaves is not written in the Law and only the priest knew how to make them. In Purpose or Prothesis, I asked about what they were made of during the forty years of wandering. They may have stayed in one place long enough to grow grain, but manna was their main food source. That of course makes them gluten-free for their time of wandering:)

I am not done, but I am hungry, so the other references on bread will be served up later.  

Jacob Israel

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Isaiah 48:1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. (KJV)

The “waters” are also translated as lineage. Think about it.

My post, Jacob/Israel What Was His Name, is a reference for this one. Like the above verse I have been running into this thought lately, so I wanted to revisit this name change. All of these verses are in Genesis.

  • 25:22 Rebekah has twins wrestling in her womb.
  • 27:35 +36 Jacob took Esau’s blessing as the first son. Okay, Esau had sold Jacob his birthright but that is downplayed at the moment. Jacob is called a deceiver which is what his name could be translated into.
  • 32:24 Jacob wrestles again; this time with “a man”.
  • 32:26 He demands a blessing.
  • 32:28 What he gets is a name change. One who has struggled with God and man.
  • 35:10 The name change is stated again.

Wrestling, blessing, and name-changing are all in just ten chapters. Jacob wrestling and being born and then “born-again” was what I wanted to point out. Another way to say it is Jacob wrestled in the womb to get his first name, he wrestled with God and got a new name. That limp was a sign for him to think about and remember the God he chose to serve and his life.

Jacob and Esau were not teenagers by the time Jacob went to Laban. (See the links below). The information is approximate at best, and I had to work backward to get to the start.

Tribes of Israel – A timeline | Mark’s Bible Study (ificouldteachthebible.com)

The Tribes of Israel – How Old Were These Guys | Mark’s Bible Study (ificouldteachthebible.com)

Jacob and Israel are the seed of Abraham by promise and faith. I tend to read/think of Jacob as the natural-born children and Israel as the supernatural children when the names are together in the same verse.

Moria

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With ink and leaf, melodies for the ear, art to envision the possibilities, and cinema to connect the pieces of Tolkien’s world we find his creation of Moria. The mine or house or land belonged to the dwarves and was taken over by the orcs and other terrors. This Khazad-dûm, this black pit played its role to perfection in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship entered it by calling “friend” and left in tears and grief.

J. R. R. Tolkien the scholar and more important a Christian, who influenced C. S. Lewis to believe in Jesus seems to have used a Greek word to name this land under the Misty Mountains. Moria, Strong’s G3472, means foolishness. Paul uses this word five times in 1 Corinthians – 1:18, 21, 23; 2;14; 3:19.

The verses in Chapter 1 deal with Jesus and His Cross being foolish to Jews and Greeks, but to us who have believed it is salvation. 2:14 sees the man without the Spirit of God finding only foolishness in spiritual words and truth. Paul ends his use of these words by stating in 3:19 that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. If only Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of Life first the knowledge of good would have been given to them and the moria of evil would have been clear.  

Paul’s time in Corinth is recorded in Acts 18. Please read that before studying the Letters to the Corinthians. It is good to note that the Church that lacked no spiritual gift had troubles and trials and needed additional instruction and encouragement to live righteously (in right relations with God and each other).

Strong’s Greek: 3472. μωρία (mória) — foolishness (biblehub.com)

Bible 911 – Genesis

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Genesis 9:11 And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. (KJV)

Like many posts in my Bible 911 series, I will have to expand my text to do this justice. Genesis 9:1-17 is what needs to be considered. I feel this is a transition section, with verse 11 as a promise from God. I am not going to make this into a “Common Creator vs common origin” or a “Creation versus Evolution” post. Since it is about the Flood, I will talk about one aspect of that.

Walking With God

  • Genesis 3:8 God walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve.
  • Genesis 5:22-24 Enoch walked with God.
  • Genesis 6:9 Noah walked with God.
  • Genesis 17:1 God asked Abram to walk before or with Him.

Take a Muse Moment and think about how you are walking with God.

Brit or Covenant

Genesis 6:18 is the first time God offers a brit (Strong’s H 1285) to a man. My references are the Strong’s Concordance and Brit Chadashah – the New Covenant (hebrew4christians.com). Covenant is used many times in our Old Testament. The point was made that you need to pay attention to the verb if there is one, that goes with the making of the covenant. In 6:18 the verb is “establish” (H6965). Compare this to the covenants God made with Abram in Genesis 15:18 (H3772) which should be read as “cut”, and 17:2 – I will make (H5414).

A covenant or agreement was made between two parties and frequently required an act of “passing through” something. That may be a very simple explanation. Genesis 9:11 had Noah and his family passing through the water of the flood, a shadow of baptism. In Genesis 15 the smoking pot and flaming torch passed through a lot of blood and cut up animals. I do see the elements of a covenant in Genesis 3:21, an animal was killed and Adam and Eve were surrounded (passed through) by the skins.  

This new covenant in Genesis 9 washes over the curse in 3:17-21. Yes, some elements may still be visible, but I think Satan has much to do with that. God is not finished with this yet, skip to the back and read it. This started a study on food from Genesis 2 to Noah. Cain, Abel, and Noah were the reason for this study.

No Flood, Just Fire

Genesis 9:11 is a promise that a Noah-like flood will not happen again. It should be noted that the tower builders in Chapter 11 did not believe God on that subject. A personal note here, even among Christians the topic of the Flood will manifest many reactions; some of them may surprise you. There is a movie, Is Genesis History?, that gives many good ideas on the topic. Do your homework here and listen to different viewpoints. Keep the big picture, the Flood occurred, but I was not there to give you the exact details. It has been interesting over the years to watch evolutions try and argue away the things they do not like.

The idea of things burning up, as taught by Jesus started in Matthew 3:12, 13:30, and 40; it is repeated in Luke 3:17. John 15:6 gives another look at the same topic. 2 Peter 3:12 tells us that the day of God will burn up the heavens and the elements. On a slightly smaller scale Revelations 8:7 talks about the earth, trees, and grass being burned when the first trumpet sounds. The one-third here makes me think of Revelations 12:4 where one-third of the stars were thrown down, this has been associated with the number of angels who followed Satan. You can have a good study looking at “third” in Bible Gateway, I used the NASB. (Isaiah 9:19 refers to the land being burned, and that people will be fuel for a fire (NIV). I just read it during my morning study.)

Signs  

God gave the sign of the rainbow (Genesis 9:12).

In Creationist thought this is important because it marks a change in the earth’s atmosphere, remember the Flood was the first rain on earth. This ot or sign was given to reassure man and to remind God of His brit or covenant with Noah and his children. It is a shame that we have given it up to be a symbol of unrighteousness. It is a symbol that God washed the earth once and the next time He will use fire.

God gives signs to remind us of important things He does for us. Circumcision is a sign of the covenant with Abraham and his family (Genesis 17:11). The Ark is a sign of the Covenant Law given to Moses; yes, that is just one thing it is and represents. (See Saul and the Signs)

Romans 4 is Paul’s insight into the semeia or sign of circumcision and the seal of righteousness (Strong’s G4973). Sign – σημεῖον | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

The path I am about to step on may be for only one person or as wide as a Roman road. In 1 Corinthians 1:22 Paul makes a valid observation of human nature: Jews ask for signs and Greeks want wisdom. The desire for “signs” has been around for a long time. Yes, he was talking about the cross, which still is a problem for people. Gideon had his fleeces, and the Philistines had their new cart and nursing cows. Christians, what do you look for? In Genesis 15 Abram was told to count stars for his sign. Jesus was asked many times to produce a sign so His countrymen would believe He was the Messiah. Jesus told them of the sign of Jonah, but they did not understand. On Tuesday of Holy Week, the leaders asked Jesus for a sign, He was on the Temple Mount (See The Sermons on Two Mounts-Sadducees and Pharisees). Before He left to go to the Mount of Olives, Jesus gave a sign/prophesy about the stones of the Temple. That came to pass about forty years later courtesy of the Roman army.  

If you want a simple, all-encompassing answer about signs, I do not have one. We have “cast lots” or pulled slips of paper from a hat many times for a sign to settle problems in our house. See Acts 1:26.

Here is a path in the direction we are traveling, symbols of faith or good luck charms. “It is bad luck to be superstitious” has been a favorite response of mine for many years. I have known good people to do things or wear something believing that it will give them favor for the season. An answer from me would either pave a road or build a wall; take a Muse Moment and seek your Creator.

Signs; Godly signs can come after an event to help us remember, they can come before an event to reassure us, or they are ongoing symbols to remind us to not waiver. Miraculous or mundane signs are to bring us and glory to the Father.

Food

One aspect of Genesis 9 that surprised me as I worked on this post was a change in diet. Genesis 6:21 and 9:3 are about food. 9:3 gives man permission to eat plants and everything that “lives and moves”. This verse begins and ends with “everything” – H 3605. The post, Hevel or Abel goes into this thought more. I did find it interesting that in 9:20 – 24, we see a vineyard and Noah drunk.

The New Covenant

The idea is that a new covenant starts in the old, especially in Jeremiah 31:31, but read the entire chapter. This verse is quoted in Hebrews 8:8 and 10:16-17. Brit Chadashah – the New Covenant (hebrew4christians.com)  I see some similar elements in the repopulation of the earth after the Flood and Jeremiah 31:27 with Judah being “repopulated” after Babylon.

The story of the Good News of this Covenant is populated with signs, symbols, people, and acts of faith. This grace that we get to walk in is from Jesus taking our sin and covering it with His blood. His cross/altar allowed Him to be put into the earth and then be born from on high. He took His blood and then sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat/Throne of God and now acts as our Paraclete with the Father (1 John 2:1, Hebrews 12:24). We get to be servants of this New Covenant because of the Spirit who gives life and we can remember Jesus’ sacrifice when we partake in Holy Communion. (2 Corinthians 3:6 and Luke 22:20)

The Names in 2 Samuel 9

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This post is a condensed reference for the names in Lo Debar – Another Look. I know I go against the popular narrative that Lo Bar was a dump, and that Mephibosheth was a pitiful, defeated individual who crawled in the dirt begging. The links are to other posts about this subject.

I like to study the names of the people and places in a story. There are times when they seem to have their own story to tell and then in other places, they are just names. I do believe it is better to not build your whole point of view on just names.  

David, H 1732 – beloved

Saul, H 7586 – desired. See 1 Samuel 9:20 for a word play on his name. See 1 Samuel 911.   

Jonathan, H 3083 – God has given

Zeba, H 6717 – statue. He was Saul’s chief steward, but as his story plays out, he was not as loyal as you may think. See 2 Samuel 16 for his chance to get all of the land that belonged to Saul, then see 2 Samuel 19:24 for the other half of the story. I think he told David in chapter 9 so he could get rid of the only heir of the land he wanted as his own.  

Makir, H 4353 – sold. He met David when he crossed the Jordan River and supplied aid to the refugees. I believe but cannot prove he was related to Jonathan. He is why Mephibosheth was hidden in Lo Debar.

Ammiel, H 5988 – my kinsman is God.

Mephibosheth, H 4648 – exterminating the idol. I believe he was sent to Lo Debar per instructions from Jonathan and that he was with family who took care of him. He was a grandson of the king who probably had family in the area starting with the last story in Judges.

Lo Debar (city) H 3810, the definition is pastureless or not a pasture. A possible reason for that name is it was built on the side of the Jordan Valley. They were a guard city for Gilead and made pottery as a source of income.

Mica, H 4316 – who is like God. This is Mephibosheth’s son; this is one reason I think he was with family, someone got him a wife.

Jerusalem (city), H 3389 – teaching of peace or foundation of peace. Different references of Strong’s have slightly different definitions, “teach” comes from a possible root word, H3384. Strong’s Hebrew: 3389. יְרוּשָׁלַ֫םִ (Yerushalaim or Yerushalayim) — probably “foundation of peace,” capital city of all Isr. (biblehub.com)  

2 Samuel 9:1 Hebrew Text Analysis (biblehub.com)