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There seems to be a transition in the Old Testament in regards to the Holy Ark of the Covenant.
Recall that the exact construction details of the Ark are given in the scriptures and also its contents… the ten commandments carved in stone, a container of manna and Aaron’s staff that budded.
We also know from the scriptures that only priests could transport the Ark and if anyone else, even by accident, touched it they would die instantly.
Early in the scriptures we see that the Ark is used by the Israelites to separate the river Jordan so the Israelites could cross over to the promised land.
The Ark was also taken into battle (Jericho) to help conquer enemies.
Hophni and Phineas took the Ark into battle against the Philistines and after the defeat of the Israelites the Philistines had it in their possession for seven months. They finally gave it up because the Lord struck them with disease and caused them a lot of trouble.
In 1 Kings 8:9 the scriptures state that the only thing in the Ark were the tablets of stone.
At some point King Manasseh removed the Ark from the Temple and replaced it with Idols.
King Josiah restored it to the Temple and that’s the last record we see of it in the scriptures (2 Chronicles 35:1-6).
About 40 years later King Nebuchadnezzar attacked and conquered Jerusalem and took all the Temple relics including presumably the Ark of the Covenant.
When those items were eventually restored to Jerusalem and the Temple there is no mention in the inventory that the Ark of the Covenant was ever returned.
See what I mean? In the early years only the Levites could handle it. In later years Philistines, Babylonians and King Manasseh handled it.
In the early years people died if they touched it. In later years people were struck with disease (hemorrhoids) or in the case of the Babylonians no distress or consequence is even mentioned.
In the early years the Ark was used to conquer enemies. In the later years it was not used in the huge and desperate battles against the Assyrians and Babylonians.
I really don’t know what all this means but as Bible students we should think about it and what it might mean.
1 Corinthians 5 contains a principle that in my opinion has application for us today as well. Remember that the Apostle Paul was admonishing the Christians in Corinth for taking each other to court over legal matters.
Among other things he advised them that their behavior did not reflect a good picture of the church to non-christians.
Let me suggest that taking our problems to another court… the Court of Popular Opinion might also reflect poorly on christians and the church.
Nowadays we have all kinds of platforms to complain about individuals and businesses… google reviews, yelp, Facebook, etc.
I personally have been called on social media both a “monster” and a “god”. Which is the truth? Probably neither. And here’s the other thing on these types of platforms you’re only seeing one side of it because it does no good… no good at all… to start a battle of words on a social platform.
I’ve noticed on some social media arguments that people go back and edit their comments so that it appears that they didn’t say at all what they did say and the responder’s comments then don’t make any kind of sense. So it’s just better to stay out of those kinds of arguments.
I’m reminded of something my mother told me… if you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all.
Try to stay out of legal Courts and definitely don’t take your issues to the Court of Popular Opinion. If you can’t resolve your issue directly then remember what the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian Christians… its okay to take wrong without complaint. After all Jesus Christ is the supreme example of that isn’t he?
Most People know that Yeast is used in the manufacture of bread. There are many kinds of Yeast but the specific yeast that is used in the making of bread is “Saccharomyces cerevisiae” which means “Sugar eating fungi”
The flour dough is kneaded together with the yeast which eats the sugars in the dough and releases carbon dioxide which makes our bread nice and fluffy. The process is called leavening. In Latin… “to raise”.
In the scriptures Yeast is used figuratively to describe what sin does in a congregation (1 Corinthians 5) and how the Kingdom of Heaven changes the world (Luke 13:20).
In congregations, if sin is ignored and not addressed it has the potential to affect the whole congregation and change the congregation described in its purity as unleavened bread to impure leavened bread… a fungus (sin) has entered and changed the congregation.
In the Parable of the Yeast (Luke 13) the world is like a lump of dough. God’s word is like the yeast… it permeates and penetrates the dough (world) and like a fungus eats up all the sugars (sin) and changes the world to righteousness which is tasty and delectable to God.
As Christians we should be careful not to let the yeast of sin corrupt us and potentially corrupt the church.
If we do that, then the sinlessly pure collectivity of Christians (the Church) can spread like a fungus through the whole world and bring glory to God.
When I was in school taking Math classes the teacher during testing always wanted us to “show our work” he didn’t want to just see an answer… because even if we got the wrong answer he wanted to see where our thinking went awry so he could make the proper correction.
I see the same thing in Bible study. How do we reach the conclusions that we do in regards to God’s Holy Word?
Did we actually study and reach those conclusions on our own or did we, like happens sometimes in Math class, just cheat (so to speak) and copy the conclusions of others?
Here are some examples of conclusions reached by some that may be correct or may not be correct that we need to re-examine.
God will not violate the free will of people.
The Church is not only capable of completing its mission but no other organization is authorized to duplicate that mission.
The work of the individual and the work of the church are separate and distinct.
The Church exists in a universal sense and a local sense and the Church Universal has no mission or human hierarchy.
Once we’re saved we’re always saved and cannot lose our salvation.
One of the first questions we should ask ourselves is how do these conclusions fit with what we know about God. Another question would be do we have command, example or necessary inference for any of them? And was there some kind of motivation for reaching these or other conclusions?
Many years ago I reached some conclusion on my own and one of my friends commented…. “congratulations… you just invented the wheel”
In retrospect I’m proud of that because I did invent the wheel and it makes little difference that someone did it before me because my brain is better for it.
I encourage you as Bible students to not just learn or teach the conclusions of others. Investigate those conclusions and look at opposing views. Work those problems out on your own and “show your work”… you will be better for it and so will those you teach.
In Luke chapter 2 we read this (in part)…
The time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them…
Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
Jesus, like all babies, was born in sinless perfection. Contrariwise, unlike any other baby born on earth by the time Jesus was in his thirties he was still sinlessly perfect. And when he was nailed to the cross and his life ebbed out of him and his blood pooled at his feet it was pure and sinless blood… never guilty of anything.
Here’s the thing… that pure and holy blood that was spilled at the cross has the power to thoroughly cleanse us so we too can be sinlessly perfect… just like an innocent and pure and sinless baby.
Mary was given a great gift because she was chosen to be the mother of our Savior and Messiah. We have been given a great gift too… the gift of blood that enables us as chosen sons to approach the throne of our Father in purity and perfection.
Even though I have a fishing boat I still hire a guide to go fishing. Why? Because when I go with a guide we catch fish… when I take my boat out I don’t catch fish.
One thing I’ve learned from the guide is… where the fish are likely to be and if we go to that place and don’t find fish he won’t waste much time there… he’ll go to a different place.
Another thing I’ve learned is what kind of hook to use and how to set it. If we’re “free lining” and letting a live bait swim wherever it wants to he will wait for a bite and then slowly lower his fishing pole before he snaps it back and sets the hook.
If we’re fishing under a float he’ll use a treble hook and he says that type of hook doesn’t need to be set.
If we’re fishing for flounder he knows a flounder will just hold the bait in its mouth for a while before swallowing it. So he waits for a while before he sets the hook.
We have a member at church that will paddle out 8 miles to the oil rigs and always brings back fish. This same fisherman can be in an area crowded with boats and no one is catching fish except him.
Remember when Jesus said to his disciples… “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. Of course Jesus was the master fisherman of fish and men.
Sometimes as Christians we don’t catch fish because we aren’t fishing in the right places. We generally are only fishing in places where all the fish have already been caught. Like at the church building or among other righteous people.
Sometimes in cases like that we give up and say things like… “Well the fish just aren’t biting today” when maybe we should try fishing in another place where nobody else is fishing. Just how bad do you want to catch a fish? Will you paddle out eight miles into the Gulf?
Sometimes we just keep throwing the same old bait out and wonder why we aren’t catching fish. Did you know that you can’t catch Black Drum on live bait? You have to use dead shrimp. Maybe you can’t catch every kind of fish just by quoting Acts 2:38 all the time. Maybe you need a different scriptural approach. Maybe first of all you have to consider what kind of fish you are dealing with. Is it a Nicodemus fish or a Samaritan woman fish?
You might have a well-read Bible and know it backwards and forwards but just can’t seem to find the fish or catch them.
Maybe if you really want to catch fish you have to admit first of all that you don’t know that much about fishing and hook up with someone who does. Like a guy like me who has a boat and everything you need to catch fish with but lacks knowledge and experience and hires someone who does have the knowledge and experience so those things can be learned.
Some people love to go fishing so much that they might fish all day long and even if they don’t catch a fish they have had a good time. Me? I like to catch fish. One of the greatest fishing guides I ever met was Harold Dowdy who came and preached a Gospel meeting for us and taught me to fish.
If you look up the word “church” in “Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words” you will not find the Greek word for “church”. Instead it will reference you to the word “assembly” where the Greek word “Ekklesia” is found.
So, according to Vine’s, the word “church” does not belong in the Bible. Everywhere you read “church” you should be reading “assembly” or “congregation”.
So how did the translators come up with the word “church”. The word “church” is derived from the word “Kuriakos” which means “belonging to the Lord” and only occurs twice in the New Testament (1 Corinthians and Revelation) and never (ever) refers to the church.
I wonder why the translators decided to use a derivation of the word “Kuriakos” (church) instead of the proper translation “assembly”
It might be because the translators wanted to distinguish a Christian assembly from any other kind of assembly.
Sounds good and makes sense except that if the Holy Spirit had wanted to make that sort of distinction I’m sure he could have invented a word for it… maybe like Kuriako-ekklesia.
Understanding that… does it really make any difference? It might.
The work of the church… the work of the assembly
Church international and church local… assembly international and assembly local.
The churches of Christ salute you… the assemblies of Christ salute you.
Let’s go to church… let’s go assemble.
Words mean things and as Bible students we should strive to use proper words so we can have a proper understanding of what God has revealed for us. I wonder what the Holy Spirit thinks about mistranslating a word?
