Daniel | Session 4 | 8b-15

Today in our study, we pick back up in verse 8 where we continue the theme of how believers are not to have an affinity for the world, and how God rewarded Daniel and his friend’s faithfulness by giving them favor with the master of the eunuchs.

No Affinity

Today in our study, we pick back up in verse 8 where we continue the theme of how believers are not to have an affinity for the world, and how God rewarded Daniel and his friend’s faithfulness by giving them favor with the master of the eunuchs. 

Verse 8 says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” As believers, we are not to have an affinity for the world. Paul told the Corinthians that the god of this world has blinded the lost to the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). 

Love Not the World

John also addresses this subject in 1 John 2:15-17 when he said, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”  All of us can learn a lot from this example set by Daniel and his friends. 

God Gives Favor

Verses 9-10: “Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.  And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.”  Notice, God blessed Daniel’s commitment to live for Him. It has been said that "God’s way may not be popular, and the path of holiness may not be well traveled, but it is always the right way." 

No Earthly Guarantees

I feel the need to point out at this point, that just because we are faithful, it does not guarantee that all things will work out in our favor; at least on an earthly level. Countless faithful saints have met their end at the point of a spear or on a pyre. 

The favor and the blessing that results in following the ways of the Lord can be earthly in that we have been faithful and used of the Lord in this life, but also celestial in that one day we will be in the presence of our Lord.

Pulse and Water 

Verses 11-12: “Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,  Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.”  The word “pulse" means vegetables. They simply wanted nourishing food that they were accustomed to and that would not violate their consciences since the meat they were being offered had already been sacrificed to false gods. 

In the New Testament, Paul addressed this issue in his letter to the Corinthians, writing in 1 Corinthians 8 that an idol is nothing and that a man is free to eat anything offered to it with a clear conscience. The only caveat was that if our eating of the meat violated another man's conscience, he should not eat it to not make his weaker brother stumble.

The Weaker Brother 

Interestingly, I have found in my own life that whenever the Bible refers to the weaker brother, I always assume it is referring to the other person and not me. However, I have come to realize that we can all be the weaker brothers at times. 

Better to Please God

Verse 13-15: “Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.” The Lord proves faithful to Daniel. 

It is always far better to please God than to please the world. Many have found that God will always prove Himself faithful if we do things His way.

There is no better example of this than Noah. I heard Adrian Rodgers say one time that it is better to be in the right and in the minority than to be wrong and in the majority. He also said when speaking of Noah, “He went into the ark in the minority, but he came out in the majority!”  We would all do well to remember that. That means that sometimes standing for what is right will result in us standing alone.

Daniel | Session 3 | 1:3-8a

In our study today, we take a look at verses 3-8 where we find Daniel and his friends being reeducated as eunuchs in the palace of Babylon, and their desire to remain faithful to God.

Verses 3-4: “And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.”  This is fulfilled prophecy! We find its fulfillment in Isaiah 39:1-7 where it says, “At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:  Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.  And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”  And, of course, among those selected were Daniel and his three friends.

It was customary practice for Babylon to take some of those from a conquered nation and train them to be ambassadors to that same nation. That makes sense since they would know the language, religion, and customs. 

Reeducation 101

Verse 5: “And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.”  The young men were to be reeducated for three years before being brought before the king of Babylon. Understand that the schooling of these three young Hebrews was completely pagan in nature. 

Sounds like the public school system today. I take my hat off to the public-school teachers who are trying to stay true to their faith. Quite frankly, it is a losing battle. I really do not know how much longer Christians are going to be able to work in any arena of the public school system without totally having to compromise their faith. Sadly, most already have and just will not admit it. 

Paganization

Verses 6-7: “Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:  Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.”  Interestingly, all four of these young men were from the tribe of Judah. 

Their names were changed to pagan Babylonian names. Daniel in Hebrew means "God is Judge,” while Belteshazzar in Chaldean means "Bel's Prince."  Hananiah in Hebrew means "Beloved of the Lord," while Shadrach in Chaldean means "Illumined by the Sun."  Mishael in Hebrew means "Who is as God?" while Meshach in Chaldean means "Who is like Shach?"  Azariah in Hebrew means "The Lord is my help" while Abednego in Chaldean means "The Servant of Nego". 

Defilement Rejected

Verse 8: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”  Daniel was about 15 years old at that time, and yet he was determined to live a life of purity and commitment to God.  That is an awesome thought. 

It has been said, “If a man is wretched, vile, and defiled on the outside, it is first because he is that on the inside."  "If a man is godly, holy, and righteous on the outside, it also first began inside."  In the end, Daniel was a godly, holy, and righteous man inside and out. 

Good Treasure

Jesus spake of this in Matthew 12:34-35 when He said, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”  Can you just imagine, for a moment, the pressure Daniel and his friends were under to conform? Everything that the Babylonians did by renaming them, forcing them to eat of the king’s diet, and forcing them to learn the Babylonian language was all part of trying to break their commitment to God. They were forcing them to conform.  

Constant Pressure

That pressure is on us all the time as well. Think about your job, school, and even your church. The world wants us to conform as well. But we as Believers in Christ must resist that temptation, though it be great at times and may cost us something. 

Resist the Conformation

The Apostle Paul said in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” 

Daniel | Session 2 | 1:2

Today, we pick up in Daniel 1:2 to discuss why Israel was allowed to be carried away to Babylon, look at what might have happened to the Ark of the Covenant, and consider its significance.

Verse 2: “And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.”   Notice that it says that the "Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand."  This clearly means that God was allowing Judah to be  punished. Why? - Idolatry and disobedience. Jeremiah speaks of their idolatry in Jeremiah 25:1-9, 11-12; and 29:10-11. 

Regarding their disobedience, we will discuss in chapter 9 that their punishment was also tied to the land as well because they did not allow it to rest per God’s instructions.  

Note also that it says King Jehoiakim took only “part of the vessels of the house of God.” Obviously, things were left behind for one reason or another. The most obvious piece that seemed to be left was the Ark of the Covenant. That was a large piece to leave out of the narrative, for sure. 

Remember that it originally held the stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written, Aaron’s rod that budded, and some manna which sustained the Israelites in the desert for forty years (Hebrews 9:4).

The last time we saw it in Scripture was forty years before the Babylonian invasion, around 622 BC, when King Josiah returned it to the temple (2 Chronicles 35:3). 

So, what happened to it? I have found four prevailing theories. Firstly, there was simply no detailed list of what was taken given in the verse. Nothing else was listed either. Secondly, Jeremiah or some of the priests hid it somewhere, expecting to be captured, because there was no time to get it out of the city. Thirdly, it could have been during the invasion. 

There are two resources that we can look for explanations. The first is the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees 2:4-8, which suggests that Jeremiah hid it in a cave on Mount Nebo, which is modern-day Jordan, where Moses first saw the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 32:49). If so, we have yet to find any archaeological evidence of that, but that does not mean it did not happen. There are many things in the Bible for which we have no archaeological evidence.

The second possible explanation is found in 2 Kings 24:12-13, where it says, “And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the LORD had said.” 

We do know that it will be used during the future time of Jacob’s Trouble (i.e., the Tribulation), because Daniel himself tells us that after the Antichrist breaks his covenant with the nation of Israel, the “sacrifice and oblation” will cease (Daniel 9:27).    

Of course, nothing says the original ark must be found before the temple sacrifices can resume, and, like many other instruments used in temple worship, it will simply have to be built again. After all, Moses painstakingly provided detailed measurements for the pieces of the Wilderness Tabernacle in the Pentateuch, making that a realistic task. 

Of course, after the Tribulation period, it will not matter because God will no longer meet with His people seated above the ark (Exodus 25:18-22), but Israel itself will be the seat of his throne (Revelation 21:2-3). 

I Believe in Miracles

Calling Them Out!

Good Lord! Listen to this man call them out! Notice how many men are in this congregation. Speaks volumes. Men long for strong, decisive, blunt, to-the-point leadership. 

Did the SBC Do the Right Thing?

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My brother, Pastor Bunjee Garrett, does a wonderful job of explaining why the Southern Baptists' vote the other day on female pastors was spot on. 

Too many want to pull verses from both the Old and the New Testaments to justify it, but Paul grounded his reasoning in the authority God established in the Garden of Eden, not in the culture that Paul found himself in. 

Is Israel God's Time Clock?

I don't know how many times I said this before, "Israel is God's time clock!. The problem with that statement is that during this current Dispensation of Grace in which we live, God is not doing anything with Israel. They have been set aside according to Romans 11, and prophecy is not being fulfilled at this time because we are living in what Paul called the mystery period (Ephesians 5:32). That makes the statement incorrect. 

The only thing that we are looking for as the Body of Christ is the Rapture of the church, and no one knows when that is going to happen. The context of Luke 21:28 is the Tribulation period, and we will already be gone. 

Daniel | Session 1 | Introduction 1:1

Today, we begin a new study through the book of Daniel. We will do a brief introduction and take a close look at verse 1, where we will find that King Nebuchadnezzar carried away the southern kingdom of Judah into captivity.

It has been said that the prophecies in the Book of Daniel are so detailed and exact that scholars who do not believe in the Bible as the inspired Word of God have trouble accepting Daniel as the author. The prophecies are indeed mind-blowing in their accuracy, and as we study this book together, you will see. In fact, I would suggest that you refresh your memory of the book of Revelation, because it has been said that “Daniel is to the Old Testament what Revelation is to the New Testament.”

The author has never really been disputed. He identified himself as the author several times throughout the book. He said, “I Daniel was grieved in my spirit.” (7:15); “In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel.” (8:1); “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by the books.” (9:2); “And whiles I was speaking.” (9:20); “In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.” (10:2).

Jesus also contributed authorship to him when he said in Matthew 24:15, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.”

Historically, we also know that Daniel lived in the sixth century before the birth of Jesus, i.e., 538 B.C., and from his writing, he was obviously a very well-educated man, as he wrote in Aramaic, Hebrew, and some Greek.

Chapter 1

Verse 1: “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.” Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem at the end of the third year of Jehoiakim’s reign. History tells us that the city fell to him in the fourth year of his reign, which would have been in 606 BC. The narrative can be found in II Kings 23:36-24:1. It was not until later, when King Jehoiakim defied Nebuchadnezzar, that the Babylonian armies came down on Judah and destroyed it.

Interestingly, God, through the prophet Jeremiah, commanded Israel not to resist Babylon’s capture of the city, because he would use it to sustain the nation, just as he had during their sojourn in Egypt (Jeremiah 27).

Who was Nebuchadnezzar? He was the first great world monarch to rule the entire known world at the time. His kingdom was Babylon. Remember that about 350 years earlier, at the death of King Solomon, the kingdom was divided in 930 BC. As a result, the two southern tribes came under the rule of Rehoboam and were called Judah, and the ten northern tribes came under the rule of Jeroboam and were called Israel. We see this in 1 Kings 12:2-16. The divided kingdoms would never be reunited again.

Over time, the ten northern tribes were conquered by the Assyrians in about 701 BC. And now, here in 606 B.C., the southern kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians. This was the beginning of what would be called the Babylonian captivity, which lasted for seventy years. In chapter 9, we will discover why it lasted for only seventy years.

The New Jerusalem

The New Jerusalem will not be for Gentiles. Paul said in Ephesians 2:6, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 

Inspiration Requires Preservation

I have a major problem when churches put up something stupid like this on their websites.  

"We believe in the authoritative Word of God. It alone is the final authority in determining all doctrinal truths. In its original writing, it is inspired, infallible, and inerrant."

The problem with that statement is that we do not have the original writings today!

Follow that logic. That means that what we do have today is not inspired, infallible, nor inerrant. That is literally what it is saying!    

If you believe in inspiration, you must of necessity believe in preservation.

I am a Mid-Acts Dispensationalist

What does that mean? 

Below are just a few reasons out of many. 

1. The Body of Christ did not begin at Pentecost. Instead, it began with the conversion of Paul on the Damascus Road in Acts 9 (Mid-Acts). 

2. As such, Paul was the first grace believer in the Body of Christ. 

1Ti 1:16  Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. 

3. The Twelve never taught the grace gospel. It was always the kingdom gospel, i.e., repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. 

4. The mystery that was revealed to Paul was that Jew and Gentile would now be one in the Body of Christ, saved by grace, outside of the Law. It is the only means of salvation today.

5. The kingdom gospel will not be preached again until the Body of Christ is removed and the Tribulation has begun.

The Ark of the Covenant

While working on a new Daniel commentary, I came upon Daniel 1:2 where it says, "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.”   Notice that it says that the "Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand."

This clearly means that God was allowing Judah to be punished.  Why? - Idolatry and disobedience.  Jeremiah speaks of this in detail in Jeremiah 25:1-9, 11-12; and 29:10-11, which we will discuss at length when we deal with the seventy weeks in chapter 9.

Note also that it says that King Jehoiakim only took “part of the vessels of the house of God.” Obviously, things were left behind for one reason or another. The most obvious piece seemingly left was the Ark of the Covenant. That is a substantial piece to be left out of the narrative. Remember that it also originally contained the stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written, Aaron’s rod that budded, and some manna which sustained the Israelites in the desert for forty years (Hebrews 9:4).

The last time Scripture mentioned it was forty years before the Babylonian invasion, which was somewhere around 622 BC, when King Josiah had returned it to the temple (2 Chronicles 35:3). 

So, what happened to it? There are many theories, including that it was simply not mentioned, it had been hidden in expectation of the capture by Jeremiah or some of the priests, or that it was possibly destroyed. 

Interestingly, the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees 2:4-8 suggests that it was the former and even says that Jeremiah hid it in a cave on Mount Nebo, which is modern-day Jordan, where Moses first saw the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 32:49). We have yet to find any archeological evident of that.

Others suggest that it was hidden beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem because there was not enough time to get it out of the city prior to the invasion. 

We do know that it will surface during the time of Jacob’s Trouble; i.e., Tribulation, because Daniel himself tells us that after the Antichrist breaks his covenant that he is going to make with the nation of Israel, the “sacrifice and oblation” will cease (Daniel 9:27).    

With that said, some would also argue that the finding the original ark is not really necessary, because a new one could be made according to the dimensions as given in Exodus 25.

Born Again?

Can members of the Body of Christ today be born agian? 

 

North Greenville University Global Impact Week

We are on the campus of North Greenville University this week for their annual Global Impact Week. What a privilege to be able to represent so many artisans around the world! 

Four Churches

There are four churches identified in the Bible and we  run into problems when we try to say they are the same. 

1. The Church in the Wilderness (Acts 7:38) which is the church that had been called out of Egypt. 

2. The Kingdom Church in the Gospels (Acts 2:47) and most of the book of Acts that was made up predominantly of Jews, but also contained Gentile proselytes. 

3. The Mystery Church revealed through Paul justified freely by grace. The Body of Christ (Colossians 1:18; Romans 11:25, 16:25; Ephesians 3:1-2; 1 Timothy 1:15-16). 

4. The Tribulation Church that will be made up of those who will seal their fates in their own blood by not accepting the Mark of the Beast which are made up of the congregations mentioned in chapters 2 and 3 of the Revelation. They are those who will accept the Gospel of the Kingdom that will be preached again by the 144,000 as per Matthew 24:13-14.

The Table of Nations

Speaking of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, you need to read The Genesis Record by Henry Morris. By the way, it would not make the list of most politically correct books in today's world.  Morris writes about how in Genesis 6 we are told that Noah had three sons (Genesis 6:10). Then in Genesis 10, we have what is called the Table of Nations which describes where each of these sons and their descendants settled after the flood (Genesis 10:1). In short, Shem's descendants are known as Shemites and they settled in what today is the Middle East. It is felt that through Shem's descendant, Joktan, came the Orientals and through his descendant, Peleg came the Asians. Thus, all Jews, Asians, and Orientals are considered to be Shemites. Ham's descendants are known as Hamites and they settled in what today is known as Africa. Japheth's descendants are known as Japhites and they settled in what today is known as Europe. Also, linguistically, through Shem came the Semitic languages; through Ham came the Afro-Asiatic languages, and through Japheth came the Endo-European languages. Religiously, through Shem came Judaism, through Ham came Islam, and through Japheth came Christianity. It goes on and on. Fascinating study! (Chapter 16, The Book of Acts Rightly Divided)

The Kingdom That Never Came

Unfortunately, it is clear from the writings of Paul that most, if not all, of the churches that he had founded or mentored eventually turned away from the Gospel of Grace that he preached and placed themselves back under the Law or Gospel of the Kingdom (Galatians 1:6), and have done so ever since, e.g., finding the church in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the other writings of the Twelve.

Sadly, with that in mind, and the fact that the kingdom never came, in their ignorance, following the writings of Augustine, specifically, his work, The City of God, early 5th century, they began to spiritualize and allegorize the texts to make them say what they wanted them to say. As a result, the church became Israel, we are now living in the kingdom, the pope is Christ's vicar on earth, and Rome is the Holy City, etc. Unfortunately, the Protestant Reformation did little to change this theology other than to reject the authority of the pope and gravitate from amillennialism to postmillennialism. Neither interpreted the Bible literally and both led to preterism. Dispensationalism was not lost, but purposefully left.

Dispensationalism is the Only Answer

The timeline never changed for the apostles. As per Daniel's prophecy and many others in the Old Testament, their expectation and hope was that Israel would eventually repent nationally, the Tribulation would begin as per the prophecies of Daniel's Seventieth Week spoken of in Daniel 9:24 and Matthew 24:15, and culminate with the Christ's Second Coming, the establishment of the kingdom, and them sitting on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel just as they were promised  in Matthew 19:28. This is reflected in all their writings without exception. This apparently remained a hope until the eventual destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the death of John: the last apostle. One would do well to remember this when they are reading anything between Hebrews and Revelation. They were always addressing the believing Jews and preparing them for the tribulation that they fully expected to come in their lifetimes. 

Paul, on the other hand, had turned to the Gentiles and the establishment of the church: The Body of Christ. As such, the apostles were teaching the Gospel of the Kingdom that required repentance and baptism, while Paul was teaching the Gospel of Grace that required only belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. As I mentioned earlier, failure to see this transition is the reason for so much confusion in the church today, e.g., baptismal regeneration, amillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism, replacement theology, much of the Pentecostal movement, the loss of salvation, etc. In my opinion, it is only through the lens of the dispensational view that these issues can be remedied.

Spearman, H. Dwayne. The Book of Acts Rightly Divided (pp. 7-8). Directional Bible Ministries. Kindle Edition. 

Perverting the True Gospel

Galatians 1:6-7: I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Notice the word another (allos = the same of a different kind) in this verse as compared to the word another (heteros = another of a different kind) in verse 6 (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:4). In other words, they are not the same. 

The trouble that Paul was referring to here was the perverting of the true gospel of grace and it was troubling to those who heard it because it was contradicting what they had already learned from him. I believe that is exactly the same problem in the church today. There are still many who trouble you, by mingling the kingdom gospel of works with the and grace gospel of faith only to the point that there is confusion and misunderstanding. 

On one hand, they tell them they have to repent, be baptized, and keep the law in order to be saved; and then on the other hand, they tell them that it is not a salvation of works, but faith alone. Seriously? Isn't this exactly the issue that Paul was addressing in these verses? Paul refers to those who did the same thing in his day as false brethren in Galatians 2:4. He also refers to them in Galatians 5:10 as those who will be judged, and in Galatians 5:12 as those that he wishes would be cut off. Strong words for sure. 

I think today we underestimate the seriousness of purposefully or un-purposefully causing division in the church by not rightly dividing the Word of God. Admittedly, I did the same thing for years, so I try to be patient with those who haven't "seen it" yet, because once they do, they can never "unsee it" like me and so many others.

Spearman, H. Dwayne. The Books of Galatians and Ephesians Rightly Divided (pp. 13-14). Directional Bible Ministries. Kindle Edition. 

Discerning the Audience Matters

Just read this by Justin Johnson of Grace Ambassadors. This is why rightly dividing the Scripture is so important. 

An important rule in Biblical application is to respect the intended audience. Who is being spoken to or about in a passage? 

If every Bible passage were about you, then discerning the audience would not matter, but this is not the case. There  are many different audiences in the Bible that change how a passage applies to you.

It is easiest to recognize general audience groups including Israel or Gentile, male or female, and believer or unbeliever.

It is harder to discern whether the audience is singular or plural without the “thee” and “ye” found in the King James Bible.

It is more difficult to consider dispensational change when identifying the audience, but this may be the most important.

For example, what God said to males only in Deu 16:16 only directly applies to males in Israel under the Old Covenant in the land. This law exempts women and those of every other nation. However, if you are not under the law, then it would not apply to men nor women.

Speaking of Israel, it might be necessary to discern obedient Israel or rebellious Israel, priests or land tribes, Israel (northern tribes) or Judah (southern tribes), Israel in the land or Israel in captivity, believing Jews or unbelieving Jews. Identifying to whom God is speaking in Israel is important for knowing why God says what he does.

There are many believers in the Bible. There may be a different application based on whether the believer is Jewish or Gentile. Likewise, it should be considered if they are believers from John the Baptist’s ministry, believers from Jesus’ ministry, believers from Peter’s ministry, or believers from Paul’s ministry. What do they believe?

In some ways it may not matter (1 Cor 1:13). All believers have some things in common (Rom 3:4). In other ways, it matters greatly (Rom 15:20; Acts 18:26). Not all believers are given the same message to believe or position to hold.

Moreover, Jews and Gentiles partaking of Israel’s earthly kingdom differ from Jews and Gentiles partaking of the Body of Christ’s heavenly position. Which Jew or Gentile is it? These must be rightly divided.

While we can learn from every book and chapter of Scripture (Rom 15:4), not every passage is written to or about you in the mystery Body of Christ, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile.

Considering the audience is important to understand where you can take direct application. For the rest, we learn from what we have in common but rightly divide what we don’t.

For your greater understanding,

Justin "if the shoe fits" Johnson