Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....June 18,, 2018
Several weeks ago, I had a serious discussion with a reader about just who and/or what Satan is. I figured with our study of the Gospel Bible study coming up soon, I should address that issue so we can be clear about this subject. Do not be fooled by some people who will tell you that Satan is not real. He is very real and much alive today. Here are the details.
Satan was an angel created by God who turned against God’s authority (Isaiah 14:13) and became the head of a kingdom of evil spirits called demons, his “angels” (Matthew 25:41). His power both in the heavenly realm and on earth is great and should not be underestimated. However, while Satan and his forces are formidable enemies, Jesus Christ crushed Satan’s power, fulfilling the prophecy of Genesis 3:15. The cross of Christ won the victory (John 12:31). “The prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:11), and Jesus will one day destroy Satan’s power completely and purify creation (2 Peter 3:10).
Satan’s power in the heavenly realm / spirit world
Satan’s power has repute in the spiritual realm (Jude 1:9), where he has limited access to the presence of God (Job 1:6). The book of Job provides insight into the relationship between God and Satan. In Job 1:6-12, Satan stands before God and reports that he has been “walking up and down” on the earth (v. 7). God asks Satan if he has considered godly Job, and Satan immediately accuses Job of insincerity—he only loves God for the blessings God gives. “Stretch out your hand,” Satan says, “and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face” (v. 11). God grants Satan permission to affect Job’s possessions and family, but not his person, and Satan leaves. In Job 2, Satan comes again into God's presence and is, this time, permitted to affect Job's personal health. (The rest of the book is from Job’s perspective, providing an example of how to deal with suffering.)
This is an important passage because it shows Satan’s place in the spiritual realm. He is able to accuse God’s people in His very presence, and Jude 1:9 shows that even Michael the archangel needs the Lord’s help in overcoming him. However, Satan is obviously restrained from enacting his full fury; he is still a created being under God, and his power is limited.
Satan’s power on the earth
Job 1 also reveals that Satan does enact evil and cause direct harm on the earth. The most well-known and important of his actions on earth occurred in the garden of Eden. Genesis 3 tells of Satan’s temptation of Eve, the “mother of all the living” (v. 20), and her subsequent first sin. It was this act, and that of Eve’s husband Adam, that brought sin into the world, and it is the reason all humankind must be redeemed from sin in order to be with God.
One day, Jesus met a woman who had been “crippled by a spirit for eighteen years” (Luke 13:11). Jesus attributes the infirmity to Satan, who had kept her “bound” (verse 16). Satan’s power was real, but it was easily overcome by our Lord: “He put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God” (v. 13). Jesus’ miracle was a clear demonstration of His authority over Satan.
Since his instigation of evil on earth, Satan has been named as the “prince,” “god,” or “ruler” of this world (John 14:30; cf. John 12:31; 16:11; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 1:13). He is the enemy of God and truth (Matthew 13:24-30; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12), and he does everything he can to tempt individuals (Genesis 3; Luke 22:31; 1 Timothy 3:7) and larger groups of people (1 Thessalonians 3:5; Revelation 2:10). He “leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9). Satan accomplishes this by various means, including appealing to man’s pride (1 Timothy 3:6; 1 Corinthians 4:6), interfering with the transmission of truth (Matthew 13:18-22, 38-39), and placing false believers within the church (1 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; Revelation 2:9; 3:9). In John 8:44, Jesus says that Satan “is a liar and the father of it.”
God still grants Satan some authority in this world, which means that his power is not yet completely broken—except in one area: his power of death. Hebrews 2:14-15 says that Jesus came as a man to die in order to “destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil,” a power Satan had held “from the beginning” (John 8:44). The salvation Jesus provides has released us from Satan’s stranglehold. Death has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55).
The Bible says that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19), and we must “be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Yet Christians have a great hope, for Jesus Christ (John 16:33) and our faith in Him (1 John 5:4) have overcome Satan’s evil. “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
My brothers and sisters, beware and be alert to Satan. We will dig deeper into this subject in the Bible Study which begins in September.
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
I posted this a couple of years ago and the prices may be a bit higher now, however, I think it is appropriate to bring it back again.
The Price of Children
This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice, The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
· $8,896.66 a year,
· $741.3 month, or * $171.08 a week.
· That's a mere $24.24 a day!
· Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140?
· first step,
· first word,
· first bra,
· first date, and
· first time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits.
So . . one day they will like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!
Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!!!!!!!
I posted this a couple of years ago and the prices may be a bit higher now, however, I think it is appropriate to bring it back again.
The Price of Children
This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice, The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
· $8,896.66 a year,
· $741.3 month, or * $171.08 a week.
· That's a mere $24.24 a day!
· Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140?
- Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
- Glimpses of God every day.
- Giggles under the covers every night.
- More love than your heart can hold.
- Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
- Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
- A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
- A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
- Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.
- finger-paint,
- carve pumpkins,
- play hide-and-seek,
- catch lightning bugs, and
- never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse to:
- keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
- watching Saturday morning cartoons,
- going to Disney movies, and
- wishing on stars.
- You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
- retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
- taking the training wheels off a bike,
- removing a splinter,
- filling a wading pool,
- coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
· first step,
· first word,
· first bra,
· first date, and
· first time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits.
So . . one day they will like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!
Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!!!!!!!
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
We continue our look at the Book of Isaiah...
14. Against the background of divine exasperation (13) and the change from ‘your God’, therefore draws a conclusion: the sign he proposes is no longer a movement of grace opening a door of faith to the king (10) but a movement of displeasure spelling out the dire result of his faithlessness. But can the sign itself be of less magnitude than the promise to ‘move heaven and earth’ (11), especially since its giver is the Lord himself (’ǎdōnāy, ‘the Sovereign One’)? The virgin (hā‘almâ): it is widely urged that, had Isaiah intended virgo intacta (as Matt. 1:23, 25 understood him to mean), he would not have used ‘almâ but bĕtûlâ and that, by using ‘almâ, he meant no more than a ‘young woman’ who, since she was to become pregnant, must charitably be assumed to be married. But it is argued here that Isaiah did indeed intend virgo intacta (see Additional note, pp. 90–91).
Be with child … give birth: cf. Genesis 16:11; Judges 13:5. The expression is ‘timeless’, with the context deciding in each case. Immanuel: ‘God with us’ (niv mg.). The case for expecting a divine Messiah is strong in the Old Testament and was, in fact, Jesus’ understanding (Matt. 22:41–45). It is clear that at some point the expectations originating in 2 Samuel 7 developed into the hope of a perfect King who would reign universally for ever (9:7) and who would be both son of David and Son of God (see on 4:2; Pss 2:7; 45:6; cf. Acts 13:33; Rom. 1:4; Heb. 1:5; 5:5). The view that the ‘almâ means, collectively, the young marrieds of Judah, who in the coming troubles would either express faith by naming their sons ‘God is with us’ or voice prayer by naming them ‘God be with us’, must surely be doubted. The you (pl.) to whom the Sovereign One gives this sign is the ‘house of David’, represented by Ahaz. In what sense would a rash of little Immanuels, which Ahaz would dismiss as women’s hysteria, constitute a heaven-sent sign, matching the momentousness of this passage, or prepare for the developing Immanuel-theme through 8:8 into 9:6?
15–17. Isaiah now allows Ahaz to believe that the birth of Immanuel is imminent and does so for a reason that hindsight justifies. Wrong … right: at most this means reaching the ‘years of discretion’ when moral choices are understood; but it could simply mean knowing the difference between nice and nasty tastes—a very early experience. The vagueness is deliberate, but three things are affirmed: (1) the child will grow up in poverty (15), for curds and honey, as verse 22 shows, are the diet of those left in a devastated land; (2) the northern threat from Aram and Israel will be ended (16)—and indeed Damascus fell to Assyria three years and Samaria thirteen years later; and (3) huge disaster would fall on the house of David (17). The separation of Ephraim (1 Kgs 12:20) reduced David’s kingdom to a tiny remainder.
The coming of the king of Assyria would take even this from David: the semblance of monarchy would survive for another century but the reality would never be restored. This was indeed the case: from the time when Ahaz disbelieved, he and David’s descendants reigned as puppet kings, by courtesy first of Assyria and then of Babylon, until the fall of Jerusalem in 586 bc extinguished kingdom and monarchy altogether so that (with Christian hindsight), when Immanuel was born, the heir to David’s throne was an unknown carpenter in Nazareth (Matt. 1:16)! Thus Isaiah concertinas the centuries, for when Immanuel was born he inherited only the memory of a kingdom and a non-existent crown—and it was Ahaz’ fault. As we shall see, in the course of this section Isaiah adjusts the historical perspective (e.g. 9:1), but he uttered no lie when he made Immanuel the immediate heir of the Ahaz-débâcle.
Additional note on the term ‘virgin’ in Isaiah 7:14
On the assumption that the Bible is the best evidence for the meaning of its words, we note that bĕtûlâ occurs fifty times. Of these, twelve are metaphorical (e.g. 37:22) and fourteen are general, where (e.g. Ps. 148:12) ‘young men and maidens’ is equivalent to ‘young people’ and there is no more ground for demanding that the ‘maidens’ are unmarried than that the men in question (bāḥûrîm) must be bachelors. There are twenty-one cases (such as Exod. 22:16; Deut. 22:19) where the bĕtûlâ in question would be, or be assumed to be, a virgin, but the requirement is in the context, not in the word itself. The idea is ‘of marriageable age/ready for marriage’.
By contrast ‘almâ is found only eight other times. Of these, 1 Chronicles 15:20 and Psalm 46 (title) use the word in a musical direction that is no longer surely understood. Three further references are indeterminate. It is hard to see that the tambourine-girls (Ps. 68:25) would have to be specified as unmarried; in Proverbs 30:19 many commentators hold that the reference is to the mysteries of procreation, though it more reasonably suggests the often much less explicable matter of sexual attraction! Song 1:3 is more likely to mean ‘unmarried girls’ looking for a good match than the longing gaze of ‘young married women’! But Genesis 24:43, Exodus 2:8 and Song 6:8 refer unquestionably to unmarried girls. Genesis 24 is particularly important as bringing ‘almâ and bĕtûlâ together. Abraham’s servant prays (24:14) for a ‘girl’ (na‘ărâ) to marry Isaac; the approaching Rebekah (24:16) is described as female (na‘ărâ), of marriageable age (bĕtûlâ) and single (‘no man had ever lain with her’). It is important to note that bĕtûlâ is not sufficient by itself to denote virginity but needs the explanatory qualification (‘no man …’). Finally (24:43), in the light of the knowledge of Rebekah that he has thus accumulated, the servant describes her as ‘almâ—i.e. female, marriageable and unmarried.
In the light of this there is no ground for saying that ‘almâ must mean ‘young woman’ and that bĕtûlâ is the technical word for ‘virgin’. Rather, to the contrary: Isaiah used the word which, among those available to him, came nearest to expressing ‘virgin birth’ and which, in the event, with linguistic propriety, accommodated that meaning. It is also worth noting that outside the Bible, ‘so far as may be ascertained’, ‘almâ is ‘never used of a married woman’.
Motyer, J. A. (1999). Isaiah: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 20, pp. 88–91). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
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