eXODUS 29

Exodus 29
29.13  eNtrails, 
29.13 fatty lobe attached to the liver... and not the liver?  I am curious to why this particular piece of fat.
29.13  two kidneys and the fat that is on them.. Two livers as opposed to just one?  Maybe that helps distinguish that it is specifically the kidneys in view.  And here is the fat again. 
"The same Heb. word is translated variously where it refers, generally figuratively, to the human organs, which were held to possess psychical functions. RSV renders it as ‘the heart’ which is ‘troubled’ (Jb. 19:27; Ps. 73:21), and ‘tried’ by God (Je. 11:20). In Pr. 23:16 RSV uses ‘soul’, which ‘rejoices’. In NT Gk. nephros (lit. kidneys) occurs once, but RSV renders ‘mind’ (Rev. 2:23)."
B. O. Banwell, “Kidneys,” ed. D. R. W. Wood et al., New Bible Dictionary (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 644.
29.20  right ear, thumb, and toe...  Seems like a sermon in the making. "To lose thumbs and big toes was the symbol of impotence and uselessness (Judg. 1:6): so to dedicate them to God was to dedicate all one’s strength. For the ‘ear-marking’, see Exodus 21:6. It seems to be the mark of a perpetual slave’s willing obedience."
R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 212.

29.27  wave offering
29.28  peace offerings ... heave offering
29.36  sin offering...
29.40  drink offering... 
29.41  grain offering
29.42  continual burnt offering...


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Titus 1.1-4 / Salutation

Group warm up time:

Compare and contrast the salutations of the three “Pastoral Epistles” (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus).

What do we learn about the character of God in Titus 1.1-4?

Titus 1.1-4 / Salutation

1 Timothy 1.1-2

¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

² To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

2 Timothy 1.1-2

¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

§         Apostle of Jesus Christ, God our Savior, hope/promise of life, grace, peace

§         “The salutation [in Titus]  is remarkably long and heavy for such a short epistle.”  –Thomas Constable

Theme/Big idea:  “…Christianity is based on the truth of the gospel and demands the response of faith lived out in a godly life.” –William Mounce

I. Paul

A.  Servant of God

• Not a house servant, minister, or deacon, but doulos the lowest
• Believers should behave a slaves to God (1 Cor 7.22; Eph. 6.6; Col 3.22-24)
• Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s slave or servant is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures.  Fr the Jew this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege.  It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Joshua 14.7), David (Ps 89.3 cf. 2 Sam 7.5, 8), and Elijah (2 Kings 10.10); all these man were ‘servants (or slaves) of the Lord.’

B.  Apostle of Jesus Christ

1. Speaks of his authority: “of Jesus Christ” alludes to the commission received on the road to Damascus
2. Speaks of his mission:  Speaking what Jesus Christ taught him.

II.  The Elect

A. 1^st  Objective of his Apostleship    

according to… (1. in accordance with)  2. with the purpose of

1.  Faith  -

§         (Could be used in its creedal sense of that body of truth that we believe in.) 

§         Could be used in the verb sense of a response to the truth.  That understanding would see a reference to conversion and the resulting walk of faith.

“of God’s elect”:  We can debate and differ on the basis of God’s choosing, but still all rest in the security that God’s  election provides.

The “unelect” can give sincere assent, but not have saving faith (James 2)

2. Knowledge  - epignosis – Understanding that results in experience.  Not just book learning, but experienced knowledge (ex. Scott (gnoskw) knows woodwind instruments, but he epignoskw the trumpet.)

Christian truth is not a concept to just be discussed.  It your faith something for you to talk about or act on?

3. according to godliness -

§         Godliness was not a reference to keeping the ceremonial law.

§         “…the repetition of “good works” emphasizes the point (Titus 1:16; 2:7, 14; 3.1, 5, 8, 14).  The truth of the Gospel changes life from ungodliness (Titus 2.12) to holy living.  – Wiersbe

§         …right belief and right behavior are inseparable.  --William Mounce

B. 2^nd  Objective  (hope)

        …in hope of eternal life  Also in Titus 2.13; 3.11

§         Do we posses eternal life now or wait for it in the future?

§         “hope” here vs. John 3:36 “has the Son has life”; We have eternal life in a real way now, but not in its completest sense.  We still look forward.

§         1 Thess 4.13  “…lest you sorrow at those who have no hope.”

1. Promised  -- What attributes of God are these promises based on.

-- God who cannot lie

– before time began

§         If it was “before time began” or ‘before the ages”

§         “What was God doing before He created the Earth?  (No before or after with God.  He is outside the realm of time.)

§         What does if mean that the promise of eternal life was in place before creation and before sin?

2. Preached

a.  Appointed time  (cf. Galatians 4.4)

§         God entered the time-space continuum

§         appointed speaks of God’s design and control of history

b. Entrusted

§         By God’s command

§         To Paul  (Note the personal responsibility.)  Has it been entrusted to you?

(God our Savior:  Jesus did not persuade and  unwilling, angry God the Father to relent and let us be saved.  The Father is our savior.)

III. Titus

A. Description  true son

“Philosophers and rabbis spoke of their disciples as their children (1 & 2 Timothy1.1)”  --IVPBBC

“I’m an Apostle and this is my man.  He speaks on my behalf.”

B. Blessing

1. What

§         grace has a link back to the OT concept of God’s hesed, -- covenant love

§         peace  brings to mind the OT concept of shalom, – single/undivided wholeness, well being,  harmony, & peace

2. Origin

a. God the Father

b. Christ Jesus  Savior

“…Christianity is based on the truth of the Gospel and demands the response of faith lived out in a godly life.”  --William Mounce in WBC

Converted:  Elect, believing

Being sanctified:   Living Godly

Anticipating glorification:  the hope of eternal life

Living Lessons from Dead King: Some of my “take aways”

As we wind down this study of the Kings of Judah it might be worthwhile for you to spend some time looking back over these chapters and writing down some of the things the Lord taught you and reminded you of through this study.  Here a few of mine from 2 Chronicles.

1.      10:8 - It is important not only to get lots of counsel but to follow wise counsel.  The best counsel may not come from my best friends.

2.      10.2 - “The Word of the Lord came…”  The quote popularized by the cell phone commercial, “Can you hear me now?” reminds me of all the times the Lord spoke to the kings through His prophets.  They ignored what He said to the detriment of both themselves and the nation.

3.      12:14 - Seeking the Lord doesn’t just happen.  I need to intentionally prepare my heart to seek the Lord, to look to Him for direction, to walk in his ways, etc.

4.      13:2 - “His mother’s name was…”  Mom’s can have a significant impact on their sons.  I thank God for my godly mom.  People’s moms are important to them and will be to me to if I am wise.

5.      14:2 - “…did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”  When it comes right down to it, what I think of my actions is of fleeting significance.  I should always have in my view the question, “What does God think about what I am doing and how I so it?”

6.      15:7 - “…your work shall be rewarded!”  God in faithful and just in His time.

7.      15:17 - “…the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.”  My first reaction was to think, “Whoa, what about the next chapter?”  I think God looks at our lives as a whole.  I should have the same charitable attitude toward others and their shortcomings.

8.      16:9 - God is looking for those whose heart is shalem toward Him so he can show Himself strong on their behalf.  This is such an encouragement for me to have a right heart toward God and a “Pick me, pick me!” attitude instead of just gloom and doom about what happens when I mess up.

9.      16:12 - “…yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.”  There is a difference between going to the doctor and seeking (trusting in and depending on) the doctor instead of God.  I need to seek the Lord when I go to the doctor.

10.   17:3 - “…ways of his father David” What kind of legacy am I leaving for by sons and daughters?

11.   18:1 - “…and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab.”  I am not sure that there was another single event that caused more grief in Judah for years to come.  I need to be careful about marriages and alliances.

12.   19:5-7 – “…for you do not judge for man but for the Lord…”The admonition to these judges is a good word for me to. 

13.   20:21 – “Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever.”  This is still a simple, but powerful thought to have on my mind when facing an adversary.

14.   21:6 - “And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel…”  Doing what is hip and what the popular culture dictates is not usually God’s way.  I need to have godly men as my role models.

15.   23:14 – “For the priest had said, ‘Do not kill her in the house of the Lord.’ ” A reverence for God and what belongs to Him is important even in the heat of the moment while doing something good.

16.   24:2 - We all need a Jehoiada and should seek to have that kind of influence in the lives of others.

17.   24:22 - “the king did not remember the kindness…”  I need to be grateful for those who have been good to me and respond in kind them and their children.

18.   25:8  “…God has the power to help…”

19.   26:16 - “But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed…”  This theme was repeated over and over and over in this study.  When things are going well, I need to be very careful to guard my heart and humble myself.

20.   27:2  Follow the good examples of others without repeating their mistakes and sins.

21.   28:22 - “Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful…”  I need to deliberately and intentionally seek the Lord in times of distress (especially when I don’t feel like it) because that is not my default response.

22.   29:24 - “for the Levites were more diligent in sanctifying themselves than the priests.”  I need to keep myself clean and ready to serve.  Shame on me if I don’t, because I will hold the church back and miss an opportunity to bless others.

23.   30:21 - “with great gladness” There is “joy in serving Jesus” and I should let myself be glad and enthusiastic.

24.   30:22 - “…making confession to the God of their fathers.”  Confessing of sins is a sign of spiritual health.

25.   32:24-26 - I need to show my gratitude to God for his blessings and be ready to humble myself when (not if.  There will be times when my heart is proud.) my heart is lifted up.

26.   33:12-13 - These are two rich verses.  They remind me that God can save great sinners.  They remind me of the importance of greatly humbling myself when I need to.  They remind me that God is a merciful God who is ready to receive my entreaty.

27.   34:3 - “While he was still young…” [15-16 years old]  We should get serious about God early in our lives.  I need to challenge young people to get serious about seeking God.

28.   34:3 - “began to seek” Seeking God is process we begin (not complete) when we are young and therefore should continue and intensify as we get older.

29.   34:27 - “…because your heart was tender…”  Watch out for that hard, callused heart that is dull of hearing and slow to respond to the Lord’s prompting.

30.   34:33 – “removed all the abominations” This task had to be repeated by good king after good king.  Those abominations are pesky and resilient things that must be dealt with again and again generation after generation.

31.   35:15 – “Also the gatekeepers…did not have to leave their position, because their brethren the Levites prepared portions for them.”  We need to take care of the needs of those who are busy serving so they will not be distracted or have to stop.

32.  36:12 – “…did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the Lord.”  Humbling myself before God is not some general platitude but has specific applications with specific people. Also, in this case Jeremiah’s message from the mouth of the Lord was thought to be unpatriotic.  Sometimes humbling myself before God will be unpopular and even make me despised.

Does Proverbs Promise Too Much?

"Does Proverbs promise to much?" is a problem that Dr. Bruce Waltke addresses with some helpful thoughts.  I have included three links to access the lecture in written and audio formats.  My suggestion would be to pull up the text and use it to follow the audio. 

• Does Proverbs Promise Too Much? is an essay Dr. Bruce Waltke in the Andrews University Seminary Studies, Autumn 1996, Vol. 34, No.2, 319-336.
• The audio is also available on a podcast through Beason podcast 

Here are some incomplete excerpts to spark your interest.

    Evangelicals confess the Book of Proverbs' inspiration and intellectually assent to its authority, but emotionally many cannot takethe book seriously because its promises seem removed from the harsh reality of their experience. 

...

     The palpable rewards to which the gracious Lord obliges himself in the even verses of 3:1-10 confront us with the theological problem, "Do they promise too much? When applied to ordinary members of the

covenant community, the interpreter of the text and of life may try to resolve the tension by explaining that the problem lies in the human partner's failure to keep the commands, not in the Lord s failure to keep his obligations. The expositor, with Job's friend Eliphaz, might conclude that individuals do not experience these promises because of original sin: "Can a mortal be righteous before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker" (cf. Job 4:16-21). As does Job, however, most expositors, though conceding the problem of original sin, insist that thisis not the reason for the apparently failed promises.

      Their rejection of the facile explanation by the likes of Eliphaz isvalidated by the life of Jesus Christ. Though without sin, he apparentlydid not enjoy these promises. Instead of enjoying long life, he died inthe prime of life. Instead of enjoying favor with God and man, on thecross he lamented, "my God, my God, why did you forsake me" (Matt. 27:46), as the crowds jeered, "He trusts in God to deliver him; let Godrescue him!" (Matt 27:43). Instead of a smooth path he experienced rejection at birth, escaped the slaughter of the innocent, lived as an exilein Egypt, confronted hostility every day of his ministry, and ended up a lonely figure on the cross (cf. Isa 50:4-6). Instead of psychological and physical health, in the Garden of Gethsemane he experienced such trauma that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44). On the cross his malefactors so abused him that he no

longer appeared human (cf. Isa 52:14). How can it be said that thedevout have barns overflowing with grain and vats that burst with new wine, when the Epitome of Wisdom cautioned, "Foxes have holes and

birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Matt 8:20)?

       To resolve this obvious tension created by failed covenant promises, I will reject three false solutions and propose four others to help us toward a resolution of the problem.

....

Acceptable Solutions

       Let us now turn to four solutions that I find helpful. First, most would agree that...

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Conclusion

     If the life of Christ came to an end on the cross, the covenant promises of Proverbs, such as those found in the strophes of 3:1-10, failed. However, if we pursue the career of Christ  ...

What the Elders at Tulsa Bible Church teach about the Bible

I. The Bible (Bibliology)

A. Inspiration

1. We teach that the Bible is God's supernaturally given written revelation to man concerning Himself, His being, nature, character, will, and purposes; and concerning man, his nature, need, duty, and destiny. Thus the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible given to us by the Holy Spirit constitute the plenary (inspired equally in all parts) Word of God that is an objective (not subjective¹ ) revelation² which is verbally inspired by God in every word.³

·       2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. NKJV

2. We teach that God spoke in His written Word by a process of dual authorship. The Holy Spirit so superintended the human authors that, through their individual personalities and different styles of writing, as sunlight through stained glass windows, they composed and recorded God's Word to man without error in the whole or in the part. ¹

·       2 Peter 1.20-21 ...knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, ²¹ for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. NKJV

¹2 Peter 1.20-21 ²1 Thessalonians 2:13  ³ 2 Timothy 3:16-17  

B. Inerrancy and Authority

We teach that Scriptures are absolutely without error (inerrant),¹ misstatement, or defect of any kind in their moral and spiritual teachings and record of historical facts and science in the original documents. They are infallible² and God-breathed;³ the only rule of faith and practice for the believer and in the church.⁴

·       Matthew 5:18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. NKJV

·       Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. NKJV

¹ John 16:12-13; 17:17  ² John 10:35  ³ 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:15-17   ⁴Matthew 5:18;   24:35;  John 10:35; 16:12-13; 17:17; 1 Corinthians 2:13; 2  Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 3:16

C. Hermeneutics

1. We teach the literal, grammatical, historical (contextual) interpretation of Scripture, which for example affirms the belief that the opening chapters of Genesis present creation in six literal 24-hour days.¹ We teach a dispensational interpretation of the Scriptures, which distinguishes God's different programs for the Jew, the Church, and the Kingdom. 

·       Genesis 1:31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. NKJV

·       Exodus 31:17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ” NKJV

2. We teach that whereas there may be several applications of any given passage of Scripture, there is but one true interpretation.  The meaning of Scripture is to be found as one diligently applies the literal grammatical-historical method of interpretation under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.² It is the responsibility of believers as they grow in maturity, to ascertain carefully the true intent and meaning of Scripture, recognizing that such truth is binding on all generations.  Yet the truth of Scripture stands in judgment of men; never do men stand in judgment of Scripture.

¹ Genesis 1:31; Exodus 31:17    ² John 7:17; 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:7-15; 1 John 2:20