ChristadelphianBooksOnline
George Booker
By The Way

Section VII

Those who regularly use the RSV should take careful note of Genesis 13:15: "For all the land which you (Abraham) see I will give to you and your descendants (AV ‘seed’) forever."

On this point the RSV is not even internally consistent, since its translation of Galatians 3:16 rightly states that this promise was to Abraham and his "offspring", singular, "referring to one... which is Christ."

Both "seed" and "offspring" appropriately translate the Hebrew original “zera” which is itself ambiguous as to number. But the RSV’s interpretive translation, "descendants", is in direct violation of Paul's later exposition, and therefore clearly wrong. Only translators totally ignorant of the significance of the Abrahamic promises could make such a blunder.

The same erroneous translation occurs in the RSV of Genesis 22:17,18: "And your descendants (AV ‘seed’) shall possess the gate of their (AV ‘his’) enemies. And by your descendants (AV ‘seed’) shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves."

This, despite the fact that the New Testament repeatedly interprets this promise as fulfilled in Christ, who destroys his great enemy death by gaining possession over its "gate", the grave (1 Cor. 15:26,55,56; Rev. 1:18; 20:6)!

* * * * *

"Where will Christ set up the judgment seat? Will it be in Palestine, or in Egypt, or in the Arabian peninsula, in the solitudes of Sinai? We cannot be sure... An uncertain detail must not be made a basis of fellowship. We must not insist upon a man believing the judgment seat will be set up at Sinai or any particular place so long as he believes that 'Jesus Christ will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.’ ” (Robert Roberts, 1898)

* * * * *

What is ''the last day" of John 12:48? Does it mean some day, long since past when, in a national sense, the Jews were punished for their (unenlightened?) rejection of Christ? (But how then explain "he" and "him" of verse 48, instead of "they" and "them"?)

It is far more reasonable to take a look at the other instances of the identical Greek phrase in John: "the last day". It almost invariably means the day of resurrectional judgment:

John 6:39,40,44,54: Those who truly and fully believe will he raised up to eternal life "at the last day".
John 7:37: "The last day" here is limited and defined by the immediate context — it is the last day of the feast.
John 11:24: "The last day", being the day of resurrection.

So in five of the other six occurrences, "the last day" means unambiguously the "day" of resurrection and judgment, while in the sixth instance it is rigidly limited by the context. So which is it in John 12:48?

* * * * *

"Shake off the dust under your feet" (Mark 6:11): This was the practice of pious Jews before entering the Holy Land after a trip abroad. Thus, by following Christ's suggestions, the disciples would witness to such a house or town that they were in their eyes no better than "Gentiles", having refused the gospel message (cp. Acts 13:51).

* * * * *

Replace "purging all meats" (Mark 7:19) with "Thus he declared all foods clean" (RSV), a tie-in with Peter's declaration of Acts 10:9-16,28.

* * * * *

Contrast the two "feasts" of Mark 6: Herod's birthday party and Christ's miraculous feeding of the five thousand. Herod's feast was sumptuous; Christ's was frugal. Herod's guests were captains and rulers; Christ's were the poor. At Herod's feast the "strange woman" — the "goddess of pleasure" — flaunted herself; at Christ's meal the "bride" partook with her "husband". Herod served a feast of death; Christ, the bread of life. At Herod's feast a righteous man was slain on a whim; while Christ's feast typified the death of the perfect man — ordained from the foundation of the world to lay down his life for his friends.

* * * * *

"For they shall deliver you up to counsels" (Mark 13:9).

Acts
4:1-22	Apostles at Jerusalem
5:17-42	Apostles at Jerusalem
6:11-7:60	Stephen
12:11	James and Peter before Herod Agrippa
16:19-40	Paul and Silas at Philippi
17:5-9	Jason and others at Thessalonica
18:12-17	Paul before Gallio at Corinth
19:29-41	Gaius and Aristarchus at Ephesus
21:27-23:11	Paul in Jerusalem
24:1-21	Paul before Felix in Caesarea
25:6-12	Paul before Festus
26:1-32	Paul before Agrippa

* * * * *

1 Kings 7:23-26 states that the diameter of the temple laver was 10 cubits "from one brim to the other" and 30 cubits in circumference. This passage has long been a favorite of those who deny the Bible's infallibility, since they point to the mathematical impossibility of such a ratio: a circle with a diameter of 10 units must have a circumference of 31.416 (10 times “pi”) units.

There is, however, quite an easy solution to this apparent discrepancy. If, as the text implies, the brim of the laver was curved outward, then the diameter could have been measured from one extreme edge to the other, while the circumference could have been measured around the perpendicular wall of the main part of the laver — thus giving the required ratio between the two measurements.

* * * * *

An "honorable counselor" (Mark 15:43), such as Joseph of Arimathea, was one of the 14 priests who formed a standing committee just below the High Priest, which regulated everything connected with the affairs and services of the sanctuary. (Edersheim).

* * * * *

The first time Jesus directly proclaimed his Messiahship was to a woman, a Samaritan and a sinner (John 4:26)! The devout Pharisee traditionally prayed, "I thank thee that thou didst not make me a Gentile, but a Jew... not a woman, but a man." But Paul proclaimed that in Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither male nor female (Gal. 3:28)! All, whatever social status or race or gender, may share equally in the blessings of the Messiahship of Jesus. Do we believe this?

* * * * *

What saves us?

Many things:
Grace: Ephesians 2:8,9.
Hope: Romans 8:24.
Belief: Mark 16:15.
Baptism: 1 Peter 3:21.
The gospel — and its memory: 1 Corinthians 15:1,2.
The blood of Christ: 1 John 1:7.
Faith: Romans 5:1.
Works: James 2:24.
Ourselves: Acts 2:40.
Endurance: Matthew 10:22.

* * * * *

“Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame
The fire of love supplies;
While that which often bears the name
Is self in a disguise.

“True zeal is merciful and mild,
Can pity and forebear:
The false is headstrong, fierce and wild,
And breathes revenge and war.

“While zeal for truth the Christian warms,
He knows the worth of peace,
But self contends for names and forms,
Its party to increase.”
(John Newton)

* * * * *

On Luke 1:35: "Therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God": If the preexistent Christ were already the "Son of God" before his "birth", how could being born of a woman make him the Son of God? If anything, it would make him the Son of man!

* * * * *

"No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it upon an old garment; if he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old" (Luke 5:36, RSV).

The new way of life which Christ brings cannot be used piecemeal to patch up an old and useless way of life. Instead, the new “garment” or life must be used in its entirety.

* * * * *

John 5:39 is often misquoted, and misapplied. It should be read as Christ’s rebuke of the "Jews": "You search the Scriptures, because you THINK you will find eternal life there. But you refuse to see that those same Scriptures testify of me! And you do not come to me, that you might truly have life." It is never enough to be knowledgeable in the Scriptures in a theoretical sense. The study of God's Word must lead us to embrace Christ, with our whole heart and mind. Knowledge by itself is sterile. But intimate, personal experience of Christ brings about deep and lasting changes in our lives, and leads on to the eternal life that may be possessed only through him.

* * * * *

Sowing

What to sow:	Luke 8:11.
What not to sow:	Deuteronomy 22:9.
How to sow:	Psalm 126:5,6.
When to sow:	Ecclesiastes 11:6.
The reward of sowing:	1 Corinthians 15:58.

* * * * *

The feet of Jesus: the place of...

Rest (Luke 8:35).
Pardon (7:38).
Healing (17:16).
Teaching (10:39).
Comfort (John 11:32).
Intercession (Mark 7:35).
Worship (Matt. 28:9).

* * * * *

Love in the Home

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness — not godliness.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh. Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window. Love wipes away the tears before it wipes away the spilled milk. Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys. Love is present through the trial. Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, and runs with the child, then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Love is the key that opens salvation's message to a child's heart.

Before I became a mother, I took glory in my house of perfection. Now I glory in God's perfection of my child. As a mother, there is much I must teach my child, but the greatest of all is love.

(Anonymous)

* * * * *

"A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return" (Luke 19:12). Provincial governors and lesser officials commonly journeyed to Rome to receive sanction and authority from the emperor to rule. Jesus may have had in mind such a state visit which had been made recently by Archelaus upon the death of Herod the Great.

* * * * *

Melva Purkis commenting on Jesus' delay in going to Lazarus when he was told of his illness (John 11): "We turn to Christ in our moments of suffering and trial. Our need is enough for his love. But sometimes he remains away and we do not understand the message he sends. The crisis comes and goes. Perhaps we are left grief-stricken and alone. But one day we shall hear the summons: 'The Master is come; he calleth for thee.' Before the open grave he will show us that he is the resurrection and the life. Then we shall see the completed pattern of our lives, and we shall know that the sorrow and the suffering made up the fullness of his love."

* * * * *

It is surely significant that Christ ends his great Olivet prophecy with the words, "Take heed to yourselves!" (Luke 21:34). Prophecy, in the last analysis, must be exhortation. Its study must not just inform us; it must change us!

* * * * *

"I will not go up (to Shiloh) until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the Lord, and there abide forever" (1 Samuel 1:22). Hannah saw beyond the present and the immediate future. Her eyes and her heart were fixed upon eternity!

What a great purpose the sorrow of one barren woman played in the development of God's plan! The real strength of Israel at this time lay not in its judges, nor in its priests, and there was "no king in Israel" (Judges 21:25). The strength of Israel lay in its godly households, few though they were, where women like Hannah created islands of purity, order, and peace. Her quiet faith and subtle strength were victorious at last to move mountains and alter the landscape of spiritual Israel.

Israel's destiny was in eclipse; there was oppression, confusion, and decline on every side. But to remedy these great evils, God chose no grown man: His ways are not our ways, a thousand years are but as one day in His sight, and He never hurries. Instead, the Almighty prepares through necessary affliction a special mother, and then causes at last a special and cherished child to be born.

In God's own time, when the precious "seed" has sprouted and grown to maturity, deliverance will come. The thankful mother, lost among the thousands of Israel but at one with her God, nourishes at her breast the destiny of her people. With his mother's milk and tender care, Samuel receives also her simple faith. ("Who is best taught?”, the rabbis asked. "The one who is taught by his mother.") It is only a few short years, but it is enough. Together they wait for the time to visit Shiloh.

* * * * *

How often we read of the Jews in the wilderness and we shake our heads sadly (with perhaps just a bit of self-righteousness) that they could have sunk so deeply into sin. "They could not obey God even when they saw miracles every day." But we should never read of others' failings and thereby feel superior. We, who think we stand, must take heed lest we fall. They had a fire by night and a cloud by day, but we have a moon by night and a sun by day — miracles as great! They saw God's hand working daily in the provision of manna and water. "What a wonderful privilege," we think to ourselves, forgetting that we see God's hand working daily in the Middle East and throughout the earth. Who really is the most favored? Who really has the least excuse to fail?

* * * * *

Read John 1:3,4 by this alternate rendering (following the RV footnote), and it is clear that the "beginning" of John 1:1,2 was the beginning of God's spiritual creation in Christ: 'All things were made by him (i.e., Christ, the 'Word'). Without him was not anything made. That which hath been made was life in him...”

* * * * *

One story in the Bible pleads for the exercise of imagination, but we instinctively shrink away from it. Let us, in a quiet, secluded place, read the last few chapters of Matthew, or Mark.... Let us think about these things, and try to make more real every detail of these events: the heart-rending prayers, the sleep of the disciples; the approach of the rowdy mob; the hasty kiss of a pretended friend; the haughtiness of the priests; the cries of the people — "Crucify him!"; the calmness of Jesus in the midst of turmoil; the crown of thorns; the taunts and jeers; the merciless scourging; the painful march to the hill; the cold, hard spikes tearing the flesh; the callous laughter of the Roman soldiers... all this really happened! How much more real can it all come, before our very eyes! "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?"

* * * * *

"There are divisions that are uncalled for, and therefore sinful. Paul refers to such when he says, 'Mark them that cause divisions among you contrary to the doctrine (the teaching on unity) that ye have learnt.' He was referring, no doubt, to the factions arising out of personal preferences, but the warning applies to all divisions that ought not to be made. There is division enough, in all conscience — division that is inevitable, division that must be, unless we are to ignore divine obligations altogether; but there are divisions that ought not to be. It is possible to go too far in our demands of fellow-believers. How far we ought to go and where to stop, is at one time or other a perplexing problem to most earnest minds." (Roberts)

* * * * *

This man....

“This man receiveth sinners”	Luke 15:2.
“Never man spake like this man”	John 7:46.
“We find no fault in this man”	Luke 23:4,14,41.
“This man hath somewhat to offer”	Hebrews 8:3.
“Through this man is preached the forgiveness of sins”	Acts 13:38.
“This man is worthy of more honor than Moses”	Hebrews 3:3.
“This man sat down”	Hebrews 10:12.
“This man continueth ever”	Hebrews 7:24.
“This man was the Son of God”	Mark 15:39.

* * * * *

The professional theologian comes to the Bible with a cool, detached, critical mind. He juggles and classifies each jot and tittle like an accountant, putting each fact in a column of his own choosing. He scoffs and sneers and finds reason to doubt, and goes his way unchanged. Our approach must be completely different. We must come to the Bible with humility and reverence, with love, with a child-like eagerness to learn. God has given us this book not so that we can inflate our egos, but so that we may mold our characters to the glory of His name. There is a great difference between possessing "the Truth" and being "possessed by" the Truth!

* * * * *

"He to whom I shall give a sop..." (John 13:26): The greatest mark of esteem a host can pay his guests is to select a choice morsel out of the common dish and place it in his guest's mouth.

* * * * *

Christ's disposal of his personal effects at death:

His purse to Judas	John 13:29
His spirit to God	Luke 23:46
His body to Joseph	John 19:38
His clothes to the soldiers	John 19:23,24
His mother to John	John 19:27

* * * * *

Have we not all had the pestering little thoughts, of the right or wrong of some complex moral tangle, or perhaps of some puzzling verse that seems to defy exposition? Or perhaps spent countless hours with some of those favorite Christadelphian time-killers: as, for example, who were the angels that sinned? is Elijah dead, or alive? or who, if anyone, was the tempter in the wilderness? Then we tell ourselves, "Someday, when Christ comes, we'll know all those things!"

But what does Jesus say? "In that day (when the glorified Jesus reveals himself to his disciples)... your hearts shall rejoice... and ye shall ask me nothing" (John 16:23). There is a profound reassurance in his words: not that our perplexing questions will be answered, but that they will disappear. Nothing else will matter when that day comes. At that time we might have anything we desire from the Father (v. 23), but no matter! We will already have everything we need: we will have Christ!