Monday, November 10, 2014

11Nov2014 Dan3-4 Is24 2Cor5:1-10


So what are the parts of the statue in yesterday’s reading? From Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary:

1. The head of gold signified the Chaldean empire, then in being. 

2. The breast and arms of silver signified the empire of the Medes and Persians. 

3. The belly and thighs of brass signified the Grecian empire, founded by Alexander. 

4. The legs and feet of iron signified the Roman empire. The Roman empire branched into ten kingdoms, as the toes of these feet. Some were weak as clay, others strong as iron. Endeavors [were made] to unite them, for strengthening the empire, but in vain. The stone cut out without hands, represented the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which [will//should] be set up in the kingdoms of the world, upon the ruins of Satan's kingdom in them. This was the Stone which the builders refused, because it was not cut out by their hands, but it is become the head stone of the corner. Of the increase of Christ's government and peace there shall be no end. The Lord shall reign, not only to the end of time, but when time and days shall be no more. As far as events have gone, the fulfilling this prophetic vision has been most exact and undeniable; future ages shall witness this Stone destroying the image, and filling the whole earth.

 

Yesterday in Isaiah we heard the oracle against the proud seafaring city-state of Tyre.

 

One of the hard things about 2 Corinthians for a translator is that ‘we’ in Greek is just like ‘we’ in English. The two languages do not distinguish between ‘we-speakers-excluding-listeners’ and ‘we-inclusive-of-listeners’. So which is it in places like this? Well, primarily here, I think that Paul is talking about ‘we apostles’ in this section. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t take what Paul says about himself and his friends and apply it to us as our ideal. Here is an example:

7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

This contrasts with v. 12:

12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

16 That is why we [apostles] never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits aree being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.


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