Q. 326. What do you gather as to woman's teaching from Judg. 4:4,54And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. 5And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. (Judges 4:4‑5); Luke 2:36-3836And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36‑38); John 4:28, 29, 39; 20: 17:28The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? (John 4:28‑29)
39And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. (John 4:39) Acts 2:17, 18; 21: 917And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: (Acts 2:17‑18)? A. E.
A. We gather that she is free to deliver any message the Lord may give her, provided it be done in accordance with scripture; that is, that other passages which restrict the sphere of her teaching be not violated. There is no doubt, however, that, as a rule, a woman's ministry is of a more hidden and quiet character than that of an old Testament prophetess.
A. The Revised Version reads " Not concerning this do I say that he should make request." This is very clear, and will no doubt explain your difficulty.
A. (1) Refer to B. S., Vol. i. Q. 237, p. 16. (2) It points out that it is better for a man to lose his natural life than to stumble a young believer (presumably deliberately and intentionally). God thinks a great deal more of young Christians than we do: they are very precious to Him. (3) Simply, that in fulfillment of the words "according to your faith, be it unto you," the woman received the blessing which she had faith to believe could be obtained by a touch, even of the outward garments of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A. (1) None who believe in Christ seek to obtain righteousness by the law, for with the heart they believe (on Christ, dead and risen) unto righteousness, or in other words, failing to establish their own righteousness (by keeping the law) they accept the righteousness of God (ver. 3). When man has been thoroughly tried as to righteousness, and has utterly failed so that " there is none righteous, no not one," it is no longer a question of human righteousness at all. The problem solved by the death of Christ is not how Dian can be righteous, but how God can be just, and the justifier of him that believeth. The way this is accomplished is by Christ becoming (in two ways) the end of the law for every one that believeth: in the first place, His death pays the last penalty exacted by a broken law, and places those whose substitute He is beyond its reach, for when the law has taken a man's life there is no more it can do: in the second place, through the same death, God can now righteously reckon the sinner who believes justified from all things, and thus God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith (Rom. 1:1717For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17)), or on the principle of faith (not of works, else it were legal) to the faith that will receive it.
(2) Peter here refers to the transfiguration.
A. The scriptural meaning of the word implies the confession and forsaking of sin (were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins). We find that the two must go together, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy," Prov. 28:1313He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13). Literally the word means an " after-thought," and since an after-thought too often in our short-sighted actions means a change of thought, it came to mean "a change of mind." The word however, as used by our Lord and His forerunner always means a change of mind about sin. True repentance must ever accompany salvation: " Repent ye, therefore, and be converted." Acts 3:19,19Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19) also 2:38. In Acts 5:3131Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. (Acts 5:31) we find it precedes forgiveness, and yet in the gospel book of the Bible (the Gospel of John, see Chapter 20:31) the word repentance never occurs, either as noun or verb, the fact being, that it is necessarily implied in true belief and conversion. If we turn to God, we must turn from dumb idols (see 1 Thess. 1:99For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; (1 Thessalonians 1:9)) as well; as has been well expressed, the proffered gift that opens the sinner's hand at the same moment causes him to drop the assassin's knife, and directly the love of Christ enters the heart, it leads to repentance.
A. It is important to notice that the first eight verses of Rev. 21 properly belong to and follow on after Chap. 20. After the last judgment of the dead, the earth and heaven having fled away (Chapter 20:11), a new heaven and earth appear, distinguished physically from the present one by there being no sea, and morally by there being no more sin, and hence no more sorrow, crying, pain, or death: this is the eternal state. From Chapter 21:9-22:7 there is presented to us the theme of Chapter 20:6, and other scriptures, which speak of Christ's millennial reign, taken up and expanded, as is the custom in this prophecy: so that this passage is descriptive of a time antecedent to the last judgment and the eternal state. During the Millennium there will be sin in the hearts of the unregenerate who will follow the devil at its close (20: 7), and there will be death. The span of man's life, however, will be greatly prolonged, death being then regarded as the direct judgment of God. (Isa. 65:2020There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. (Isaiah 65:20).)
Q. 332. Does the "day of the Lord" include the great tribulation? D. T. C.
A. The " day of the Lord " seems to commence with the terrible series of divine judgments at the close of Daniel's last week (see Zeph. 1:1414The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. (Zephaniah 1:14); Isa. 13:66Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. (Isaiah 13:6); 1 Thess. 5:22For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:2)). It extends not only through the Millennium and the judgments at its close, bat includes the forming of the new heavens and earth (2 Peter 3:10-1310But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (2 Peter 3:10‑13)); thus (one day being with the Lord as a thousand years) this day of the Lord will last for over a millennium. If by " the great tribulation " is meant the fearful persecution of the Jewish remnant under Antichrist, it would seem that this is immediately before what is called the day of the Lord; for, according to 2 Thess. 2:3,4,3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3‑4) the man of sin (Antichrist) is revealed first, and is the sign that the day of the Lord is at hand.
Q. 333. Is there not a plurality of heavens?
A. There are three heavens spoken of in scripture: 1St, the firmament or air, where birds fly, and the clouds gather (Gen. 1:2020And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. (Genesis 1:20)); next, the space where the sun and moon and stars are (Gen. 15:55And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. (Genesis 15:5)); and thirdly, the dwelling place of God, "the heaven of heavens," called also the "third heaven " in 2 Cor. 12:22I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. (2 Corinthians 12:2). See also Heb. 4:14,14Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. (Hebrews 4:14) where our Lord is spoken of as having passed through (R.V.) the heavens.
Q. 334. Does not the word of God reveal the kingdom of God as a state of being, and in this sense are not the two terms, kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven, used indiscriminately and universally? x. x.
A. The kingdom of God is more a condition of soul, "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:2121Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:21)). This is never said of the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand we are said ourselves to be in both the kingdoms of heaven and of God. In one sense the kingdom of God has always existed in these hearts where He has reigned. The kingdom of heaven has a definite beginning in Christianity, see Matt. 11:11,1211Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew 11:11‑12). Refer to B. S., Vol. 2, p. 88, (4 102.
A. By the preference the Corinthians were in danger of giving to other preachers, who were beguiling them from their simplicity in Christ during his absence of which they took advantage to disparage him, Paul was driven to come down to the low level of self-vindication. This, however, the Spirit has used to make us acquainted with an outline of the marvelous labors and sufferings of the Apostle which otherwise we should never have known.
A, (1) The law does not "bring us " to Christ. These words are in italics, are not scripture, and entirely mar the sense. The passage reads " Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster unto (or until) Christ. (2) Put on Christ as a profession, baptism being here the public profession of Christianity. It is not that we are children of God by baptism, that is by faith, (see preceding verse) but that it is the public introduction unto the Christian position as contrasted here with the Jewish.
A. Scarcely. Water is hardly a type of divine nature. It is a type of the Word of God (Eph. 5:2626That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:26)) also of death (in baptism) and of cleansing generally. Blood is atoning. Hence in the two passages we find cleansing and atonement (in 1 John 5), atonement and cleansing (in John 19); the difference being that the Epistle looks at the death of Christ from my side, hence cleansing (water) comes first, while the Gospel is from God's side, hence atonement (blood) precedes.
Q. 339. Is the custom of addressing God in prayer as "0 God, our God, blessed God " (leaving out "our Father") strictly in keeping with our relationship, having been made sons and daughters unto God? See Gal. 4:66And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6).
A. Both are true and right. By the Spirit we cry " Abba Father," but the One whom we do thus address is God, and it is well to remember this. As to scriptural practice, we have Acts 4:24; 12:5,24And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: (Acts 4:24)
5Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. (Acts 12:5) in which God only is spoken of, also Eph. 1:1717That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: (Ephesians 1:17) to God, and Eph. 3:1414For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Ephesians 3:14) to the Father. The Lord's prayer gives us also the authority to use " our Father." We judge therefore that we have freedom to use both titles, the use of the one, however, never causing us to lone sight of the other.
A. The commencement of Christianity in opposition to more recent views that had sprung up in the Apostle's closing years. It is the period when that eternal life, which is the theme of the Epistle, was first manifested in the person of Christ. "From the beginning " is different from "in the beginning" in John 1:1,1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) which is eternity. This, of course, literally has no beginning, and the expression, as used here, is therefore merely an accommodation to our finite minds. If we go back in our minds as Ear as ever we can, all we can say is, that the "Word" was there then just as it is now. It is not that " the Word" began in what is here called the beginning, for then this would mark a period of time, but that the Word was there. In Gen. 1:11In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) " the beginning " is a definite period of time, for then God created the heavens and the earth. When this was, we are not told: no doubt ages before the events subsequently recorded in the Chapter. John 1:1,1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) however, goes further back than this. Again, in Mark 1:11The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; (Mark 1:1) we find another " beginning," viz, that of the public ministry of Christ. Thus there are four distinct "beginnings" in these four passages.
Q. 341. Does not our Lord both by precept and example set forth fasting as a positive Christian duty? M. H. U.
A. Yes. We find it also in the practice of the Apostles (Acts 13:3,3And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. (Acts 13:3) &c.) We may suggest, however, that although abstinence from food is no doubt primarily meant, it perhaps, does not exhaust the meaning of the word: may not " fasting " also imply a voluntary abstinence from legitimate earthly pleasures and pursuits, in order to be wholly given to the Lord's work Q. 342. Have we any authority in scripture to pray for the dead? M. H. U.
A. None.
Q. 343. (1) Is it the teaching of 1 Cor. 11, that women should always have their heads covered? (2) Please explain verse 10. c.
A. (1) See B. S, vol. i. p. 68 Q 313 and p. 94, Q 343. This passage plainly refers to public and not private worship. (2) The marginal note in Bagster's Bible, we think correctly gives the meaning, i.e. a covering in sign that she is under the power of her husband. Compare the action of Rebecca in Gen. 24:6565For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. (Genesis 24:65).
Q. 344. Will you kindly explain Acts 17:2828For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (Acts 17:28)? Did not the heathen poets mean Jupiter when they said " For we are also his offspring?" If so, how could the apostle apply it to God? Would it not serve to give color to the idea which some have, that it is the same God who is worshipped alike by Christians and by Pagans, only under different names? Pope says:-
"Father of all! In every age
In every clime adored;
By saint, by savage, or by sage
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord."
A. In the religious belief of many heathen there is a certain amount of truth, especially with regard to the existence of a Supreme Being. This point of faith is either traditional, or a part of natural religion, for " the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead so that they (the immoral heathen) are without excuse." It was of Jupiter " the father of gods and men" as they called him, that the poets Aratus and Cleanthes wrote the words, " We also are his offspring." This, says the Apostle to his Athenian hearers, is a TRUE belief, WE are the children of the Supreme Being, the objects of His love seeing that we are His handiwork, and His tender mercies are over all His works." Is our God then degraded to the low level of the heathen Zeus? Not so! for the Apostle had already raised the minds of his audience to a far loftier conception of the Supreme Being than was generally prevalent among the heathen. God that made the world and all things that are therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands (no local deity, not confined to one spot): neither is worshipped with men's hands as though He needed anything, seeing that He giveth to all, life and breath and all things. After these grand words it must have been clear to all His hearers that the God of whom the Apostle spoke was not the Jupiter of heathen mythology, while at the same time he did not reject what alone was true of their system of religion, namely, their belief in the existence of a Supreme being. The Hymn to Zeus from which he quoted is one of the most sublime effusions of those earnest spirits who in the doctrines of heathenism groped after God if haply they might find Him, and who did find some light, though not the light of revelation-the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Pope's lines are quite opposed to the teaching of scripture. Respecting the translation of which you speak, we would remark that the Apostle Paul, who, in his epistles, had to address people only half emerged from the darkness and traditions of heathenism, nowhere speaks of the true God under a heathen title.
A. (1) The appearance or likeness, probably as elsewhere all through the Old Testament, that of a man, see Ex. 24:1010And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. (Exodus 24:10); Josh. 5:13,13And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? (Joshua 5:13) &c. &c. (2) Compare John 2:23-2523Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. (John 2:23‑25). The verses that follow ch. 8:33 show plainly that most of those there spoken of were not " His disciples indeed" though they became outwardly His disciples, the Lord did not here, as in John 2 " commit himself unto them," but proceeded to test their spiritual state by the keen edge of the Word which soon discovered the thoughts and intents of their hearts, proving that they only belonged to that class of hearers who anon with joy" receive the word, but having no root, " by and by" are offended (verse 33) and end by seeking to stone the One in whom they had professed to believe (v. 59.)
A. Are they not those shepherds so wonderfully described in Jer. 23:1-41Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. 2Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. 3And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:1‑4) and Ezek. 34 of whom the Scribes and Pharisees of the Lord's day were surely true examples? (2) He says " speaking after the manner of men " and we should therefore think he alluded to the temple scene in Acts 19. An additional reason for thinking the language is figurative is that no allusion to any such literal conflict occurs in the full list of dangers given in 2 Cor. 11:23-2823Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:23‑28).
A. Does not verse 4 show that for your own sake you should not bandy foolish words with a fool, while verse 5 shows that at the same time for his sake it is unwise to cast pearls before swine and enter into a serious argument with one incapable of understanding or appreciating the subject.
Q. 348. What is the difference between an exhorter, a teacher and a pastor? H. N.
A. An exhorter is one who specially applies the word of God, to the conscience and heart in a practical way. A teacher, one who unfolds its meaning. And a pastor one who cares for and looks after, as well as feeds the sheep of Christ.