Saturday, March 7, 2015
Chronological New Testament Study Day 49
Acts 7; Acts 8
1 Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges
true?" 2 To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers,
listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was
still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 3 'Leave your
country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.' 4 "So
he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his
father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He
gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him
that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at
that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this
way: 'Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they
will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 7But I will
punish the nation they serve as slaves,' God said, 'and afterward they will
come out of that country and worship me in this place.' 8 Then
he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of
Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the
father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. 9 "Because
the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But
God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He
gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of
Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. 11 "Then
a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers
could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain
in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. 13 On
their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned
about Joseph's family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his
father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then
Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. 16 Their
bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had
bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money. 17 "As
the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our
people in Egypt greatly increased. 18 Then another king, who
knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. 19 He dealt
treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to
throw out their newborn babies so that they would die. 20 "At
that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was
cared for in his father's house. 21 When he was placed
outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses
was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and
action. 23 "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to
visit his fellow Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being
mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing
the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would
realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The
next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to
reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each
other?' 27 "But the man who was mistreating the other
pushed Moses aside and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Do
you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' 29 When
Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had
two sons. 30 "After forty years had passed, an angel
appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount
Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he
went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord's voice: 32 'I
am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses
trembled with fear and did not dare to look. 33 "Then the
Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is
holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people
in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now
come, I will send you back to Egypt.' 35 "This is the
same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and
judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the
angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of
Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for
forty years in the desert. 37 "This is that Moses who
told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own
people.' 38 He was in the assembly in the desert, with the
angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received
living words to pass on to us. 39 "But our fathers
refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back
to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, 'Make us gods who will go before
us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt--we don't know what has
happened to him!' 41 That was the time they made an idol in
the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in
honor of what their hands had made. 42 But God turned away and
gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies. This agrees with what is
written in the book of the prophets: " 'Did you bring me sacrifices and
offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? 43 You
have lifted up the shrine of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols
you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile' beyond Babylon. 44 "Our
forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had
been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Having
received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when
they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in
the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God's favor
and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But
it was Solomon who built the house for him. 48 "However,
the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: 49 "
'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will
you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? 50 Has
not my hand made all these things?' 51 "You stiff-necked
people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You
always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet
your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming
of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him-- 53 you
who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not
obeyed it." 54 When they heard this, they were furious
and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the
Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing
at the right hand of God. 56 "Look," he said,
"I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of
God." 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at
the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged
him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their
clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they
were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then
he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against
them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
1 And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that
day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all
except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2Godly
men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul
began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and
women and put them in prison. 4 Those who had been scattered
preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a
city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. 6 When the
crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close
attention to what he said. 7 With shrieks, evil spirits came
out of many, and many paralytics and cripples were healed. 8 So
there was great joy in that city. 9 Now for some time a man
named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of
Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, 10 and all the
people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This
man is the divine power known as the Great Power." 11 They
followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 12 But
when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God
and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon
himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere,
astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. 14 When the
apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they
sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed
for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because
the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been
baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and
John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 When
Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he
offered them money 19 and said, "Give me also this
ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy
Spirit." 20 Peter answered: "May your money perish
with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You
have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before
God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord.
Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.23 For
I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." 24 Then
Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may
happen to me." 25 When they had testified and proclaimed
the word of the Lord, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the
gospel in many Samaritan villages. 26 Now an angel of the Lord
said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes down
from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27 So he started out, and on his
way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the
treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to
worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot
reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told
Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." 30 Then
Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.
"Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked. 31 "How
can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he
invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The eunuch was
reading this passage of Scripture: "He was led like a sheep to the
slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his
mouth.33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can
speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth." 34 The
eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about,
himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that
very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As
they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,
"Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And
he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down
into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up
out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the
eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip,
however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the
towns until he reached Caesarea.
Romans 11
Romans 11 (New International Version, ©2010)
Romans 11
The Remnant of Israel
1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"[a]? 4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal."[b] 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, 8 as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear,
to this very day."[c]
9 And David says: "May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever."[d]
Ingrafted Branches
11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
All Israel Will Be Saved
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way[e] all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
"The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is[f] my covenant with them when I take away their sins."[g]
28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now[h] receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Doxology
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[i] knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"[j]
35 "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?"[k]
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Romans 11
The Remnant of Israel
1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"[a]? 4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal."[b] 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, 8 as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear,
to this very day."[c]
9 And David says: "May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever."[d]
Ingrafted Branches
11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
All Israel Will Be Saved
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way[e] all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
"The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is[f] my covenant with them when I take away their sins."[g]
28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now[h] receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Doxology
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[i] knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"[j]
35 "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?"[k]
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)