1 Peter 2:2 - As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
After having done this, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby:
Well, wouldn't you know it, the text is not as easy as it sounds. As newborn babes, there are different phases of growth in the Christian life. Both Paul and Peter mentioned milk as being the food for young Christians, infants, people who have just come to know the Lord.
Peter here, and then Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, he said when I first ministered to you, I fed you with milk. Now you should be able to eat solid food but you're still not able, and you're still drinking milk. And that was a five-year period that he said you should be able to start eating solid food. But milk is for infants, babes, newborn Christians. There's nothing wrong with that.
There's no problem, until you've known the Lord for 10 to 20 years and you're still drinking milk. That's a problem!
But desire the sincere milk. The word sincere is the negative form of the word guile. It's without deception, or literally without duplicity, and it literally means no double meaning. That's what deception is. You say one thing, but you mean another. Well, with the milk that you're fed with, you don't have to worry about it tricking you or not saying what it says. It is without duplicity. It has no double meaning. It means what it says, the intent of the inspiration of the writer as he wrote it.
1 Peter 2:4 - To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
To whom (Christ), coming, and please notice that this is a Present Participle, coming. To whom continually coming, as unto a living stone (the living stone is Christ), disallowed, or rejected of men, but chosen of God, and precious.
He's now introduced as a living stone. This is the word LETHOS. It's not the word PETROS, or PETRA. It's the word LETHOS which is a medium size stone. It's larger than a PETROS, but not as big as a Petra. So, He was rejected by men, but by God He is elect and precious.
1 Peter 2:5 - Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
You also, as lively stones, and the word lively is an Old English word for living. It's the same word for Jesus Christ, and it's the same wording, LETHOS, only it's plural.
1 Peter 2:6 - Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
He says wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, (from Isaiah 28:16), Behold, I lay in Sion, or Zion. You'll hear Jewish people call it Sion also. I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, that's a LETHOS, elect, and precious: and he that believes upon Him shall not be confounded.
And the word confounded means embarrassed, or to withdraw yourself. The bible tells us that when Christ comes, the non-believers are going to look for places to hide, whereas the believer is going to run out because their Lord has come.
Interesting that even in the Hebrew scriptures, God said a chief cornerstone is going to come who's elect and precious, and the that believes upon Him shall not be embarrassed, or withdrawn. The word (not) by the way is Double Negative, shall never be confounded, or ashamed, or withdrawn.
Once again, thank you Jesse. I have a question that I hope you don't mind answering. How does someone like me who only knows the English language truly understand the Scripture. It seems like if you know Hebrew and Greek, the meaning of certain words takes on a whole knew meaning. That's why I love your posts. You have clarified some of the Scripture for me. I am fascinated by the meaning of certain words in the Hebrew and Greek languages. Thank you once again!
Thank you for the question, and no, I don't mind you asking at all. Your message was very kind, and I am glad to hear that you have been blessed by some of the things I have shared. I had to think on this one for a bit and I'm not sure that I have a perfect answer to give you. The best I can come up with, and I'm sure that most would agree, is that it is God's Spirit that reveals the truth of His word to us no matter what language we read and understand.
The original languages, whether it be Hebrew or Greek, are only tools that are available to anyone who desires to learn those languages and how they might enhance or bring further clarification to what our English text is actually saying. Learning Koine Greek has been a blessing for me in my studies, and I love sharing what I've learned, and it is my hope that others, even if just one, might be blessed by the things I share.
Again, thank you for your kind and encouraging message. I am glad to hear that I have helped you in some way. May the Lord continue to bless you abundantly through the study of His word.
1 Peter 2:3 - If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
So, if indeed you have received Christ, if indeed you have been feeding off of His truth, and found that He is gracious, he says keep going. If you've been born of the seed of God, the word of God, then continue to grow by feeding on His word that feeds your reasoning process.
There are two words that I want to share that I think is absolutely necessary to know to be able to fit in and understand the Jewish Literature section of the bible. There are two words in Hebrew, one represents good, and the other represents bad or evil. The Hebrew word for good is the word TOV. The Hebrew word for bad or evil is RAH.
Now here's how it works in Hebrew:
In creation, you'll remember that after the various days of creation, it said God looked at what He had created and saw that it was good, everything was good. Well, the Hebrew word for good TOV) means it is serving the purpose for which it is created. Now Rah is the opposite. If something is bad or evil, it's basically functioning in a way that it was not created to function.
And that really puts into proper focus about sin, about doing good, about doing bad, doing evil, is that as a sinner, I function in a way that God did not design for me to function. It's not according to my purpose that He has for me.
I wanted to share this now because it says in the last line of Verse 3, if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. In the Greek text, it says the Lord is useful. The corresponding Hebrew word is TOV. If you have tasted that the Lord is functioning in a way that He is meant to function, then continue on.
If you have tasted from Christ and found Him to be true, and found Him to be the Messiah, and found Him to be the Savior, then continue on. The Lord is useful in the way that He functions and in His relationship to us.
Now the word for "word," you would think that it would be the word for the word of God or for scripture, but it isn't. It is the word LOGIKOS, and it pertains to the reasoning process of man. We get our English word logical from this term. And so, it's not milk of the word. It's milk for the reasoning process. It's milk to feed your mind. And it is without duplicity. It has no double meaning.
The only other place where LOGIKOS is found is in Romans Chapter 12 Verse 1. It's the word reasonable, except is doesn't mean your logical service. It means your service is coming out of your reasoning process. You serve the Lord with thinking things out and making your decisions to obey Christ.
So, what Peter is saying is that as newborn babes, desire the sincere, that is, it means what it says, milk of the reasoning process. It's the milk that feeds the reasoning process. And the purpose clause: in order that you might grow in it.
1 Peter 2:2 - As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
After having done this, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby:
Well, wouldn't you know it, the text is not as easy as it sounds. As newborn babes, there are different phases of growth in the Christian life. Both Paul and Peter mentioned milk as being the food for young Christians, infants, people who have just come to know the Lord.
Peter here, and then Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, he said when I first ministered to you, I fed you with milk. Now you should be able to eat solid food but you're still not able, and you're still drinking milk. And that was a five-year period that he said you should be able to start eating solid food. But milk is for infants, babes, newborn Christians. There's nothing wrong with that.
There's no problem, until you've known the Lord for 10 to 20 years and you're still drinking milk. That's a problem!
But desire the sincere milk. The word sincere is the negative form of the word guile. It's without deception, or literally without duplicity, and it literally means no double meaning. That's what deception is. You say one thing, but you mean another. Well, with the milk that you're fed with, you don't have to worry about it tricking you or not saying what it says. It is without duplicity. It has no double meaning. It means what it says, the intent of the inspiration of the writer as he wrote it.
1 Peter 2:4 - To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
To whom (Christ), coming, and please notice that this is a Present Participle, coming. To whom continually coming, as unto a living stone (the living stone is Christ), disallowed, or rejected of men, but chosen of God, and precious.
He's now introduced as a living stone. This is the word LETHOS. It's not the word PETROS, or PETRA. It's the word LETHOS which is a medium size stone. It's larger than a PETROS, but not as big as a Petra. So, He was rejected by men, but by God He is elect and precious.
1 Peter 2:5 - Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
You also, as lively stones, and the word lively is an Old English word for living. It's the same word for Jesus Christ, and it's the same wording, LETHOS, only it's plural.
1 Peter 2:6 - Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
He says wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, (from Isaiah 28:16), Behold, I lay in Sion, or Zion. You'll hear Jewish people call it Sion also. I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, that's a LETHOS, elect, and precious: and he that believes upon Him shall not be confounded.
And the word confounded means embarrassed, or to withdraw yourself. The bible tells us that when Christ comes, the non-believers are going to look for places to hide, whereas the believer is going to run out because their Lord has come.
Interesting that even in the Hebrew scriptures, God said a chief cornerstone is going to come who's elect and precious, and the that believes upon Him shall not be embarrassed, or withdrawn. The word (not) by the way is Double Negative, shall never be confounded, or ashamed, or withdrawn.
Thank you for the question, and no, I don't mind you asking at all. Your message was very kind, and I am glad to hear that you have been blessed by some of the things I have shared. I had to think on this one for a bit and I'm not sure that I have a perfect answer to give you. The best I can come up with, and I'm sure that most would agree, is that it is God's Spirit that reveals the truth of His word to us no matter what language we read and understand.
The original languages, whether it be Hebrew or Greek, are only tools that are available to anyone who desires to learn those languages and how they might enhance or bring further clarification to what our English text is actually saying. Learning Koine Greek has been a blessing for me in my studies, and I love sharing what I've learned, and it is my hope that others, even if just one, might be blessed by the things I share.
Again, thank you for your kind and encouraging message. I am glad to hear that I have helped you in some way. May the Lord continue to bless you abundantly through the study of His word.
God Bless!!!
1 Peter 2:3 - If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
So, if indeed you have received Christ, if indeed you have been feeding off of His truth, and found that He is gracious, he says keep going. If you've been born of the seed of God, the word of God, then continue to grow by feeding on His word that feeds your reasoning process.
There are two words that I want to share that I think is absolutely necessary to know to be able to fit in and understand the Jewish Literature section of the bible. There are two words in Hebrew, one represents good, and the other represents bad or evil. The Hebrew word for good is the word TOV. The Hebrew word for bad or evil is RAH.
Now here's how it works in Hebrew:
In creation, you'll remember that after the various days of creation, it said God looked at what He had created and saw that it was good, everything was good. Well, the Hebrew word for good TOV) means it is serving the purpose for which it is created. Now Rah is the opposite. If something is bad or evil, it's basically functioning in a way that it was not created to function.
And that really puts into proper focus about sin, about doing good, about doing bad, doing evil, is that as a sinner, I function in a way that God did not design for me to function. It's not according to my purpose that He has for me.
I wanted to share this now because it says in the last line of Verse 3, if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. In the Greek text, it says the Lord is useful. The corresponding Hebrew word is TOV. If you have tasted that the Lord is functioning in a way that He is meant to function, then continue on.
If you have tasted from Christ and found Him to be true, and found Him to be the Messiah, and found Him to be the Savior, then continue on. The Lord is useful in the way that He functions and in His relationship to us.
1 Peter 2:2 Continued
Now the word for "word," you would think that it would be the word for the word of God or for scripture, but it isn't. It is the word LOGIKOS, and it pertains to the reasoning process of man. We get our English word logical from this term. And so, it's not milk of the word. It's milk for the reasoning process. It's milk to feed your mind. And it is without duplicity. It has no double meaning.
The only other place where LOGIKOS is found is in Romans Chapter 12 Verse 1. It's the word reasonable, except is doesn't mean your logical service. It means your service is coming out of your reasoning process. You serve the Lord with thinking things out and making your decisions to obey Christ.
So, what Peter is saying is that as newborn babes, desire the sincere, that is, it means what it says, milk of the reasoning process. It's the milk that feeds the reasoning process. And the purpose clause: in order that you might grow in it.
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