Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 299

Matthew (Part 6):

Matthew 5:10 - Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The word persecuted, without getting sidetracked on a word study because I could go on for several posts just on this one Greek word and you guys wouldn't like me very much. DIOKO is the Greek word, and it means to chase or pursue. Our English understanding of the word "persecuted" may be different than what we get from the Greek.

When Satan persecutes us, he chases us. In Ephesians Chapter 6, Paul says, after having put on the armor, stand. Satan likes to get us on the run. He can't stop us, but he chases us. We get tired, weary, frustrated, discouraged, and we quit. We stop ourselves. He runs us ragged!

It is interesting that the word persecuted here is in the Perfect Tense. What that means in the Greek text is that the Perfect Tense expresses a present condition based upon past action. So, they have already been persecuted. Blessed are the ones who have already been persecuted. But it is not just general persecution. It is for righteousness' sake. It is for doing what is right in the eyes of God.

Matthew 5:11 - Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

The word "revile" means to insult someone. When they insult and persecute you, when they say all manner of evil. The King James says "falsely" which is not in the best manuscripts. It was added to show saying evil about you, the evil that you haven't done. They made it up!

Matthew 5:12 - Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

"Rejoice, and be glad" are the only two commands in the beatitudes. Both are Present Tense commands, which means be continually rejoicing, and continually be glad. The word "glad" in Greek, AGALLIASTHE means to celebrate. We don't catch this in our English translations.

Hello Brother Jesse. I've just gone through your four parts (thus far), & can see that your contribution will be a very useful, informative learning experience for us. I shall be noting in my Bible accordingly, if I can find space in the margins. Thank you for bringing this to us.

Just on your Matthew 1:18 reference: almost every Bible version that I could find, uses the 'birth' of Jesus in their translation. The exception being Douay Rheims, which reads, "the generation of Christ was on this wise". Even Young's Literal Translation (which can be included in the group of better translations), refers to the Birth of Christ. I find it interesting, if not worrying, why translators found it more expedient to opt for 'birth'. In attempting high accuracy in their work, I would have thought that this deviation from the Greek would raise red flags for them. GBU.

Matthew (Part 5):

Matthew 5:3 - Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

MAKARIOS is the word that's translated blessed in our English bibles. In Greek, MAKARIOS means to experience the fullness of something. Many Bible translations and commentaries will tell you that it means "Oh how happy," and that the Lord is presenting how to have a happy life.

But technically from the original language and its presentation, what the Lord is saying here is how the disciples of the kingdom of God will experience all the fullness of who God is by these principles.

Matthew 5:5 - Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

This Greek word for meek (PRAOUS), means to be open, or to be receptive. Some commentaries say that it means humble or to be a nice guy. But that's not what it means, and we don't get the meaning from our English translations.

Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

The word filled is not the normal word for fill. KORTAHSTHAYSONTAI is the Greek word, and it means to be satisfied.

Matthew 5:9 - Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

The Greek word for peacemakers, which is the only place in the bible where it is found, is a special word. It has nothing to do with going out and making peace on the earth. Paul made reference to this in Ephesians 6:15, where he said one of the pieces of armor is to "have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace."

Peacemakers are Christians that go out with the gospel and say, "You can make peace with God through Jesus Christ." Later, Jesus says, "Don't think that I came to bring peace upon the earth." So, what He is telling us is that it is not earthly. It's coming to tell people that you are fighting against God. Romans 5:1 tells us that "after having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" Peacemakers!

Here's what the Jews are commenting about manifestation of their messiah-moshiach: Is it true what they say? No.

Moshiach 101-The Identity of Moshiach

Who Is Moshiach(the Jewish Messiah)?

The Messianic Redemption will be ushered in by a person,a human leader, a descendant of Kings David and Solomon,who will reinstate the Davidic royal dynasty.According to tradition,Moshiach will be wiser than Solomon,and a PROPHET around the level of Moses.

Ever since the destruction of the Holy Temple,in every generation there is an individual,a scion of the House of David, who has the potential to be the Moshiach. If at any moment the Jews are worthy of redemption,this person would be directed from Above to assume the role of the redeemer.

In every generation there is a scion of the House of David who has the potential to be the Moshiach During the Messianic Era, the Moshiach will serve a dual role. He will be a MONARCH, ruling OVER ALL of HUMANITY with kindness and justice, and upholding the Law of the Torah-613 commandments for the Jews, and 7 for the non-Jews.He will also be the ultimate teacher, the conduit for the deepest and most profound dimensions of the Torah which will then be revealed by Gd.

How are we to identify the Moshiach?

Moshiach is not identified by his ability to perform earth-shattering miracles.In fact,he isn't required to perform any miracles at all(although the performance of miracles doesn't disqualify him either)

The following are the criteria for identifying the Moshiach,as written by Maimonides:

If we see a Jewish leader who(a)toils in the study of Torah and is meticulous about the observance of the mitzvot,(b)influences the Jews to follow the ways of the Torah and(c)wages the "battles of Gd"-such a person is the"presumptive Moshiach."

If the person succeeded in all these endeavors,and then rebuilds the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and facilitates the ingathering of the Jews to the Land of Israel-then we are certain that he is the Moshiach.

Get ready

Matthew (Part 4):

Matthew 4:3 - And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Satan starts off by saying, "If" thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But there is a huge difference between saying "if" or saying "since." It would be like saying "if you are available Thursday night for a bible study," or saying, "since you are available for a bible study." Big difference!

I'll share with you a little technical information. The word "if" in the Greek text is what is called the first-class condition assumed to be true. It can and should be translated "since." Please take note that the devil, in tempting Jesus, was not tempting Him to prove that He was the Son of God. Satan is saying since you are the Son of God, then do this. Misuse your authority. Misuse your position. Be disobedient to your heavenly Father. But please take note that Satan is not asking Jesus to prove Himself to be the Son of God, but actually questioning Him, baiting Him to disobey the commandments of God.

Matthew 4:21 - And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

Now I want to share something interesting about the word mending. The word mending is the Greek word KATARTIDZO, and that is what this word means. It means "to mend." It is actually a medical term that means the mending of broken bones or the mending of the net. KATARTIDZO is the same word used by Paul in Ephesians Chapter 2 when he talked about the equipping of the saints, KATARTIDZO. Equipping does not mean that someone trains you how to go out and share the gospel. That is not what it means.

God's ministry is to mend us. His ministry is to mend the saints so that they will be functional members in the body of Christ. That is basically what this Paul is talking about, KATARTIDZO, the mending of the saints.

Hi Jaz,

Thank you, I agree, it takes all four gospels, plus the entire Bible and the Holy Spirit. For every event that they were inspired to write about, we must let the Holy Spirit guide us through all four gospels to see the truth. The first Adam did not begin with a sinful nature, but he was not obedient to God, Adam sinned, and this sinful nature of disobedience we have was passed down from the first Adam to all humans born after Adam and Eve.

Jesus was born without this sinful nature same as the first Adam because Jesus was conceived in Mary of the Holy Ghost, not man, the Son of God. Jesus was a man as the first Adam that many disagree, Jesus was the second man and the last Adam, the first Adam was disobedient, but the last Adam/Jesus was obedient in every way to the will of the Father.

God bless,

RLW

Matthew (Part 3):

Matthew 2:7 - Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

In Verse 7, Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men or magi, he determined from them what time the star appeared. It is literally "What time of the appearing star." You might think it's being too technical to be literal, but that's literally how the Greek text reads. It was the appearing and the disappearing star. It is a word that describes what kind of star it was. So literally, in the Greek text, he says "What time of the appearing star?" They had seen this appearing star. It was the description of what kind of star it was.

Matthew 2:23 - And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Now if you have the time to do a study on this, and you're checking out your bible references, you will come to a conclusion, after much frustration and research, that there's no place in the bible where it says, "And He shall be called a Nazarene," yet it's in quotes right before us in this verse.

There are several instances in which He is called a shoot, a rod of Jesse, etc. It is interesting that the Greek word NAZAR for Nazarene means a root or a shoot, which is a play on the Hebrew word NATZAR which means the same thing. This is not a quotation of the city that He would live in, but who He would be. He would be a root and shoot of Jesse who would live in the city that would symbolize who He is. Nowhere in the bible does it prophecy that He is going to be a Nazarene or live in Nazareth, so no prophecy was fulfilled in this verse. But it does say that He is going to be a NATZAR, a root or a shoot of Jesse, which is what the word Nazarene means.

Matthew (Part 2):

What Matthew is presenting fits perfectly to what John said in John 1:14 that "The word became flesh and dwelt among us." You see, Jesus was not born. He became flesh. He has always been in existence. This is why Matthew avoids using the word for birth. He's presenting to us the origin of the Christ.



It also says that "before they came together," which is a Greek word that means before their marriage was consummated.

Matthew 1:20 - But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

Verse 20, from a literal Greek translation says, "After thinking on these things." And the English text is really pretty sad here because most English translations say, "While he was thinking on these things." But it's not that way in the original Greek text. It is an Aorist Participle, which tells us that this was after he thought on these things, after he made the decision about what he was going to do.

Matthew 2:1 - Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, During the days of Herod's reign,

It says "Behold wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. Our English text says, "wise men," but the literal Greek word is the word MAGOI for wise men. It's where we get our English word magic and magician from. They were sorcerers. This could have been translated as "there came magicians (or sorcerers) from the east to Jerusalem." In the English, the words "wise men" sounds like these were just some smart dudes! We think of wise men, and we might think of the three men in our manger scenes, even though that's not even accurate. There were many more than three because they always travelled in large groups.

Hello Momsage, and all else who might read these things I am sharing,

Beginning with Matthew, I am sharing some comparisons between what the Greek text says and what we read in our English translations, things that either enhance the meaning of what our English text is saying or changes the meaning all together. Other things I'll share may be things you already know, things that are not necessarily Greek to English comparisons, but just general information on things I find interesting.

Again, this is something I agreed to share with Momsage, but I am sharing with in the hope that others might find some of this helpful in your own studies. Please know that this is from my own personal studies with no intent to sway anyone from their own understanding of whatever English translation you may be studying from. As I move forward with this, all future posts will not be addressed to any specific person. I will simply title these posts "Biblical Greek Perspectives."

So, to begin with Matthew, (Part 1):

Matthew 1:18 - Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Notice it says, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, or more literally "in this way," because Matthew is explaining that little presentation in Verse 16 "from whom" or "of whom." The word "birth" in this verse is the Greek word GENESIS which means origin. The origin (not the birth) of Jesus Christ was in this way. Matthew is not calling it a birth. He is calling it an origin.

The word "generation" in Verse 1 is also the same Greek word GENESIS. It is not the word for birth. Matthew is purposely avoiding the word for birth. What Matthew is saying here is that this is the scroll of the origin of the Christ.

I will share why this is important in the next part.

Thanks brother for confirming that. It's always better to get the instruction from those who know the language, rather than simply from reference material, which, in this case, can source their information from sometimes dubious texts. Blessings.

Dear Brother , yes I agree with you on this . To me , it pays to read all four of the Gospels very carefully .

In Luke chapter 4 verses 1-13 we see the devil tempting Jesus , what would be the point of this exercise and the writing down of it and it's preservation for us , if Jesus was incapable of sinning ? Didn't the the devil know wether or not Jesus could have been tempted into sinning ? Verse 13 is very telling to me , it ends with the words : for a season . Christ was constantly tempted throughout his ministry .

If we believe that Jesus wanted everyone to believe in him , and that he has power to lay down his life and take it up again ( power that Jesus himself says was given to him by God ) , what about Matthew chapter 27 verses 39 through to 42 . If we read verse 42 very carefully we see that the chief priests are saying : come down from that cross and we will all believe that you are who you say you are ! What a sight that would have been ! That would have shut them up wouldn't it ? ! There is Jesus , in physical and emotion agony , full of the power of God , able to do anything that he wants to do . Would he not have been tempted to display such awesome power as to save himself from this agony and instantly convert potentially hundreds and hundreds of people by doing the most amazing thing ? Come down from the cross and we will believe him !

Go back to Matthew chapter 26 verses 36-44 . Jesus submits himself , his own desires his own fears , totally to the will of God . And it's this submission that gets him through the torture of the crucifixion . He knows that it's what God wants him to do . God is not forcing him to do it . He could , come down from the cross , and we will believe him . He subjugates himself , even though he didn't have to , he chooses to allow himself to go through the agony of crucifixion when he didn't have to , he could have given in to the temptation to take the easier path . This is why what he accomplished is so stunning to me

Hi Daaaviddd0921: Sorry my reply is a little late. In verse Romans 9:16 (KJV)

16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. S

He is simply saying mankind cannot will or make progress ( runneth: (trekh'-o Strong's/Bible Hub) to gain heaven. It is only through God's mercy for those who ask for it. you didn't answer my question: what happens to those who are not of the elect, those not chosen by God to be saved? It seems to me God is just disposing of them.

Ephesians 1:3-7 Is addressed to the to the church in Ephesus (us) and the Church of God was predestined to be established during Christ's ministry on earth NOT individuals.

Ephesians 2:1-10 is telling simply telling us that it is the grace and mercy of God through Jesus' death and resurrection the we can be born again.

Please show me through the actually wording of these verses how they interpret different then what I have shown. God Bless:)

Hello Chris.

You are right, the word "even" doesn't appear in the grk text. As you said it was probably used to emphasize Jesus' person.

The grk says:

Acts 9:17,"...the Lord sent me, Jesus, who appeared to you on the way that you were coming..."

1 Thessalonians 1:10, "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who releases of us from the coming wrath."

Hebrews 6:20, " Where forerunner for us Jesus entered, becoming high priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedec".

1 John 5:6, "He is who came through water and blood, Jesus Christ; not in water only, but in water and blood. And the Spirit is that bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth."

The text I am using is the majority text which is almost the same as the received text.

Dear David,

I prayed for your daughters and grands last night.

Matt.12:24 "Ten"

"But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils."

Blasphemy against the Spirit was not a single instance that can be levelled against the nation. In the Parable of the Wicked Tenants Jesus sums up"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."(Matt.21:43) As a nation they were unfit so Isaiah says, " Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint."(Is.1:5). While Moses went up the mount to receive the Decalogue the Israelites were already buy making a golden calf. What spirit was animating them? They were not of God. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."( John 8:44)

Decalogue therefore was a set of commandments distinct from Gospel of salvation signified by the Command Number 10.

We shall see the difference in the vision of the Woman clothed with the Sun. "And upon her head a crown of twelve stars." This tag signifies the everlasting covenant and the nation of Israel shall not enter therein as the Parable signified.

"And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." (Re.12:3). The dragon signifying spiritual wickedness in high places is under condemnation. Therefore the ten horns refer to the Decalogue and he shall be cast into the lake of fire before the day of Regeneration commence. "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."(Re.20:10)

Israel as a nation of the Law have no place in the holy city of God.

Hey Jesse,

I am looking forward to your post on Matthew showing the Greek perspective, I agree with S Spencer, you and Giannis are a blessing to us when it comes to Greek.

God bless,

RLW

Praise the Lord for putting it on your heart to do this Brother Jesse.

You and Giannis have been a blessing in showing us what scripture says in the Greek and how it can make a huge difference.

The Greek is such a direct language, I heard it is to be understood intertextuality, therefore it was written to be read out loud.

Thanks again and God bless.

Matt.12:28 "Kingdom of God"

"But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."

From the passage given above it is clear that Christ was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. ( 1 John 3:8) A "house divided against itself shall not stand."The Advent of the Son of man was to bind the strongman and spoil his house which is what we see in the chapters 19 and 20 of the last book. The Spirit gives us a concrete imagery of 'all the fowls'( The angel "saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God" are spiritually understood for clearing up the spoils gathered by Satan and his cohorts.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."(Ep.6:12) Saints following the Word of God are fighting in the mid-air (Re.19:13-14) Who is not gathering with Christ Jesus are gathering with Satan.

This leads to the verse on blasphemy repeated twice in vv.31-32."but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."(v.32) Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in this world slanders the world to come which is the day of Regeneration in which His everlasting dominion is Satan-proof. The strong man referred in the key text is the spiritual darkness working through the sons of perdition.

The Spirit of God where two kingdoms of God and his dear Son tagged as two, is one. "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;" If the salt has lost its savour what good is it? It is for this reason Jesus Christ manifested and his Gospel is everlasting gospel. This day of Salvation is tagged by 12 while the day of Regeneration is noted by Command number Seven. These aspects of Alpha Omega attributed to the Son work with the Spirit of God.

Ps.104:15 "Bread from heaven"

"And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart."

"Bread wine and oil" are triadic motives that God has provided man as blessing which have spiritual significance as well."That whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?"(Matt.15:17) This bread is what Satan intended but Jesus put in the right context. "But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matt.4:4) Partaking Christ is to fortify man living in heavenly places. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven./For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world."( John 6:32-33).

Here we have the significance of the multiplying loaves of bread. John 6:9-13 "When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost./ Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten." This broken loaves were meant as a testimony to his Father. Ministry of Reconciliation included heaven and earth. In the bread broken symbolically pointed to his death on the cross. The angels serving as the cloud of witnesses were to be reconciled to him. " And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."(Col.1:20)

What made the single measurement man angel as one is the Word which was God. It is thus the Spirit has set the symbols, parables as part of the Word become flesh as the Mediator. After our likeness must prove perfect in all these triadic motives. Bread of heaven sets angels and man on the same standard as the body of Christ. (Col.1:21-22)

Col.1:20 "Ministry of reconciliation"

The Spirit for the foregoing reasons gives us some clue. "Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full."(Ps.78:25). This shall help us figure out the proclamation here in the verse, "And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;/ That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great."(Re.19:18-19) Restitution of all things must play a part in creating a single standard. "And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust." (Ps.78:18) The entire psalm is set as an extended parable for which reason the nation of Israel is a warning for us. "Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."(1 Co.10:11) They loathed what God had provided. "But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes."(Nu.11:6)

On the fifth day God blessed all life forms, "And fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.". God provided meat to the nation to which the cloud of angels is a witnesses. So restitution of all things explains it. "and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."(Ac.3:20-22)

Hi Cheryl1655. I understand what you are thinking & could be confusing, as several verses in the NT have this phrase, "even Jesus" ( Acts 9:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Hebrews 6:20, 1 John 5:6). I couldn't detect the word 'even' appearing in the Greek (our Greek reading/speaking brothers could verify this), so I surmise that the KJB translators added this word to emphasize the One Who was being spoken/written of. It's probably like us saying, "the Lord, that is, Jesus", or "Whither the forerunner is for us entered, the very One called Jesus", when we want to correctly or emphatically point to Jesus alone. So these verses don't speak of two different people, just the One called Jesus.

Col.1:20 "All things to himself" (1 of 2)

"And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven."

This shall explain the single measure for the holy city of God, " according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel."(Re.21:17) In Christ both earth and heaven are to be reconciled. Angel serving as cloud of witnesses and saints redeemed from the earth are be one. The rule of three applies here. Principle is the ultimate basis for actions and we have principle of Reconciliation principle of Association and principle of Similitude. So body prepared for the Son before the worlds began must reconcile angels as well as man. So the word become flesh preached gospel on earth as well as the same shall be preached from heaven as well.""And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,"(Re.14:9) The writer to the Hebrews gives us a reason, "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." It includes angels as well since the next verse refers to this cloud. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."(He.11:40;12:1-2)

God has set this cloud as witnesses to man and ministry of Christ is directed from both fronts. Everlasting gospel is proclaimed from the mid-air or the face with which the covenant began. "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." This shall end only when the new heaven and new earth are inaugurated. This veil is removed so "the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." This signals the Son has fulfilled the will of his Father.

Dear E.

I will pray for all these needs you mention tonight. You are so faithful to bring the needs of your loved ones forward on here. Thanks and God's blessing to all you know and care about.

Hello Mark,

I will pray for Valeria tonight.

Dear Sarah, I am happy to pray for your ultrasound to show that all is well. Thanks for giving me this opportunity topray for you tonight.

Dear Momsage, and also my brothers and sisters in Christ,

As I promised, I am going to share some of my personal studies of the New Testament from a Biblical Greek perspective, beginning with Matthew and working through the book of Revelation, Lord willing! I just finished going through Matthew, but it is late in the evening here for me, so I will try and start this tomorrow. What I am going to share are the differences I see between what the Greek text is saying, and what we read in our English translations. My intent is not to discredit any English translation one might use or study from. My intent is to show why I believe that there are no "perfect" English translations, using the Greek text as the source of comparison. With the Lord's help, I will do my best to point out the differences between what the original language is saying and what our English bibles say, places where certain words translated for us in the English are not the same words in the Greek. I also want to share places where I believe the Greek text enhances our understanding of what we read in our English bibles. I do want to mention upfront that I have learned to read Greek, but I am no Greek scholar by any means. But then again, I'm no English scholar either! I am only sharing from my own personal studies, and I leave it up to you to put everything I say to the test and decide for yourselves if what I am sharing is helpful in your studies. I do ask for your prayers as I take this on. Thanks!

Blessings to you all!

"don't add to the prophecy of the book.

That should cause caution shouldn't it Brother Jesse.

I think that makes the Prophecy of this book all important!



God bless

Thus Saith the Lord

My Grace, is suffecient for thee

Thanks Brother Jesse.

That was very informative!

God bless.

Brother Jesse yes ! Where I live I am regularly accosted by representatives of various churches , out touting for souls to save , promising new revelations from new prophets or pastors who posses special powers or greater understanding .

We know that the promises of dreams and prophecies from Joel chapter two are fulfilled in Acts as it says in Acts chapter two . 1st Corinthians chapter 13 tells us that these things will cease ! Why would they cease ? Because of the fact that God has provided the perfect means by which any one of us can get to know Him , through His Living Word ! The Bible . He has given us everything that we need to draw closer to Him , we have a mediator in heaven , Christ , who knows how it feels to be human , weak , vulnerable , afraid , he was in every way tempted as we are , he understands us perfectly because he has been where we are now . He has walked in the flesh , in our shoes , in these kingdoms of men and we can read all about it any time we choose .

The Bible truly is alive ! It is a living entity and the more we read it the more it fills us up with the Word of God and that becomes part of us so that even when we are not actually engaged in reading it it is still in us , growing and taking us over , it is the good seed !

This doesn't happen overnight , this takes time and effort and this time and effort on our part must be coupled with a desire , to learn and grow and for this we must have open eyes and ears and an open heart , we must be willing to grow and change , to allow the Living Word to take root in us and we must feed every day on it . Colossians chapter two verse 8 and chapter three verse 2 , this is not advice , it's instruction as relevant as thou shalt not kill .

We must feed to the full , every day and allow ourselves to be taken over by God's Truth which is , His love and forgiveness as epitomised in Christ .