Tag Archives: 05/05/18 Bible Study

Daily Bible Study

May 5, 2018 Bible Study — The More We Study What Is True, the More We Learn of the Truth

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 17-18.

    When the Assyrians conquered they took a large number of the Israelites and settled them elsewhere. Then they brought in people whom they had conquered elsewhere and settled them in the land. This was, and is, a practice conquerors often use to minimize the risk of rebellion in conquered territories; break up the bonds among the people living in the conquered territory and introduce people with no loyalty to those living there. Like many of the people of the day, the Assyrians believed that many gods were local. So, when things went badly for the new settlers, they brought back some of the priests from exile to teach the settlers how to worship the god of this land, who happened to be God. The religion which these priests taught the settlers was the origin of the Samaritan religion. The settlers worshiped according to the teachings of these priests, but continued to also worship the gods of the lands they came from. Despite the differences between the practices of the people of Israel and the practices taught in the law of Moses, and the differences introduced by these foreign settlers, by the time of Christ the Samaritan religion had become a corrupted form of worship of the one true God. One which looked back to Moses and forward to the Messiah. The Samaritans were at least as receptive to Jesus’ teachings as the Jews.

    This evolution of the Samaritan religion reminds me of something which C.S. Lewis wrote in his “The Chronicles of Narnia” series. In the book, “The Last Battle” he wrote that no service which is vile can be done to Aslan (who is an analogy of Jesus and God) and no service which is not vile can be done for Tash (who is an analogy for Satan, and other idols). Which is another way of saying what Jesus said in the 2Sermon on the Mount, ” Keep on seeking, and you will find.” Those who seek God will eventually find Him. My observation is that, if the people who follow a false religion genuinely seek goodness, over time that false religion will begin to more and more resemble true Christianity. The Holy Spirit can, and will, use even the least smidgen of Truth to reveal more Truth to those who seek that Truth.

Daily Bible Study

February 2, 2018 Bible Study — Obligated To Testify But Avoid Foolish Vows

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 5-7.

    Today’s passage contains a list of sins for which one must make atonement. Among these sins are two of which I want to take special note. First, the passage says that it is sinful to refuse to testify when called to do so about something which you have seen or know about. If we know something regarding a case which is before the courts, or which should be before the courts, we are obligated to testify regarding that case. While the passage only states that we are obligated to testify if we are “called” to do so, I believe that this obligation goes beyond that. I do not want to make this a black-and-white obligation for us to be tattle-tales, but it does mean that we cannot let wrongdoing we are aware of go by just because the authorities do not know to call us to testify. The second sin worth noting is the making of a foolish vow, whether the vow is for good or bad purpose. So, making a foolish commitment is a sin. All of the different ways in which such a commitment might be foolish applies here, whether what we have committed to do is foolish, or if we encourage someone to do something foolish because of what we will do if they do so.