Many inspirational pages, even books, could be written on the 22nd Chapter of Genesis. God had told Abraham to take Isaac to a mountain and sacrifice him. God knows the end from the beginning, so why did He put this as a ‘test’, since He already knew the outcome? One could say that it was to ‘prove’ Abraham’s faith, but God knew the deepest depths of Abraham’s heart. Yet, in a way, it was to ‘prove’ Abraham’s faith, but not to God, but to the world. God knew this passage would appear in His Word and He knows that those of faith will grasp it and learn. Though many may debate it, God knows the hearts that will accept it in the right spirit. Genesis 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (RNKJV) Isaac was not Abraham’s “only” son. His first born son was from Sarah’s maid, and the reading clearly indicates that Abraham had a love for that child as well. From the Hebrew perspective, the wording is indicative of ‘the son chosen as the prime heir to Abraham’s blessing’. Compared to the New Testament reading of Jesus as ‘His (YWHW- our Creator/Heavenly Father) Only Beggotten Son’ indicates that Jesus was the only human born into the human race who was supernaturally implanted into Mary’s womb, so God the True God born into the human race. The New Testament was begun by the Jewish race and the New Testament writers used the Hebrew language, and even when using common Greek language, still were subject to understanding from Hebrew perspectives and using Hebrew idioms, even if (and there is some debate about this) they did so in the Greek language. Even when Hebrew is translated into Greek, it must be interpreted and understood from a Hebrew perspective. Genesis 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, Elohim will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (RNKJV) Abraham knew that God had promised blessings to be passed on through Isaac. Abraham may not have understood by what means God was going to perform this, but He had faith. If God were to allow Isaac to be sacrificed, God had the power to restore him. But Abraham believed God, and was ready to do as God had commanded him. So as Abraham told Isaac that the Mighty One (Elohiym) would provide a lamb, he knew that even if Isaac were accepted as a lamb, God would fulfill His promise, but whatever Abraham may have thought, He knew to obey God’s command. Now “thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest” became a prophecy of “His Only Begotten Son” in John 3: 16, Who was accepted as the Lamb of God Who would take away the sins of those who came to Him, believing in Him. In the next passage, some people who were persecuted in Jerusalem had gone as far as Antioch preaching Jesus (Yahshua) to the Jews there. As the word began to be preached to the Greeks, many came in great numbers to believe. So the KJV says that it was there that the believers were first called Christians (from the Greek- Chirstos- which means ‘anointed’). However, there are some who prefer the term ‘Messianic’ from the Hebrew, Messiah (or Mashiyach) which means anointed. Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the assembly, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Messianics first in Antioch. (RNKJV) Though the Jews may have spoken Hebrew and conversed and preached in Hebrew, I don’t believe that many of the Greeks would have been very conversant in the Hebrew language. I believe that as the gospel was preached to the Greeks, it was preached in the Greek language. As Greek was the common and widespread language, I believe that most ethic groups around the Roman empire spoke their native language commonly among themselves, but were also conversant in the common Greek, which varied somewhat from the formal Greek. There are Christian writings from early times that indicate that many of the early Jewish converts to following Jesus were called Nazarenes (because they followed the man from Nazareth). It may well be that many Greeks who were taught by these Nazarenes would have been called Nazarenes as well, so the early Christians, Jews and Greeks, may have been all called Nazarenes, at some point. But as the gospel spread greatly among the Greeks at Antioch, I believe that it would be much more likely that they were called Christian (from ‘Christos’) rather than Messianics (from ‘Messiah’). Though this is just a linguistic technicality, and either term could apply, as the meaning is the same.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 03:00:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015