Sunday, August 6, 2017

NL-DBRP_219 JER.34 JER.35 PRO.4.1-14 1CO.12


JEREMIAH 34-35:
In yesterday’s reading, Jeremiah bought a field according to the Lord’s instructions. Under the circumstances, that seemed a futile thing to do. He prayed, and the Lord used the situation as a backdrop for wonderful promises to the nation of Israel.

 I highlighted a verse earlier in Jeremiah where the coming Righteous King was named, ‘The Lord Our Salvation.’ In yesterday’s reading it was the city of Jerusalem that is so named.

Jer. 33:16 GNT The people of Judah and of Jerusalem will be rescued and will live in safety. The city will be called ‘The Lord Our Salvation.’

There is no conflict in this. The Lord is emphasizing something! Keep it in mind.

PROVERBS 4a:
Proverbs 3 extolled the virtues of Lady Wisdom and ended with various nuggets of wisdom. Here are verses that stood out to me from that chapter:

NLT Prov. 3:21 My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment.
Hang on to them,

24 You can go to bed without fear;
you will lie down and sleep soundly.
25 You need not be afraid of sudden disaster
or the destruction that comes upon the wicked,
26 for the LORD is your security. …

1CORINTHIANS 12:
Yesterday’s chapter has two clear parts. The second section is the often-quoted teaching about the Lord’s supper. My opinion is that ‘discerning the body’ is about recognizing the symbolism of the Lord’s body in the communion elements, not about the church as the ‘body of Christ’.

The first section of chapter 11 has to do with visually portraying the God-ordained hierarchy of leadership within the main church worship services. (Note: Paul was not talking about general dress everywhere else, but just the worship services.) There is good information about the head ‘covering’ in a NET footnote. (See lumina.bible.org.) That note shows why long hair cannot be considered to be the head covering Paul was talking about. (That is a frequent misunderstanding.) I do NOT think we may just dismiss what Paul teaches here by saying that our culture does not visually portray male/female roles in the same way as the Judeo/Roman culture of Paul’s day. Yes, our cultures are so different. But rather than dismissing Paul’s ideas, I challenge us to explore how we may visually display the same spiritual considerations in our worship services in a way that makes sense in our cultures. Remember that he closes with these emphatic words:

1Cor. 11:16 NLT But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.

I think it is a good idea to pay attention any time Paul becomes emphatic.

GNT Translation notes:
Jer. 34:6 Then I gave [that//this] message to King Zedekiah in Jerusalem
====
1Cor. 12:9 One and the same Spirit gives [full belief//faith] to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal.
11 But it is [the] one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.
14 For [any body//the body itself] is not made up of only one part, but of many parts.
20 As it is, [in the body of Christ,] there are many parts but one body.
27 All of you are Christ's body, and each one [of you] is a part of it.

NLT Translation note:
1Cor. 12:29 Are we all apostles? [No.] Are we all prophets? [No.] Are we all teachers? [No.] Do we all have the power to do miracles?  [No.]


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