生命之道

Author: 杨 全荣

  • 1 Chronicles 10

    1 Chronicles 10

    The Fall of Saul

    V1-12 is a exact copy of the last chapter of 1 Samuel, chapter 31.

    v13-14 are unique to 1 Chronicles, these two verses are not in 1 Samuel. It provides us a clear reason of the fall of Saul: because he was unfaithful to the LORD; he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the LORD.

    It was God will put Saul to death. God was not cruel, He has given Saul 40 years of opportunity as King of Israel, however Saul did not show any sign of repentance of his unfaithfulness to God.

    Faithfulness is what is the Lord Jesus seeking in His church (Matt 25), are you faithful to the calling of the Lord in your life?

  • 1 Chronicles 1-9

    1 Chronicles 1-9

    Chapter 1 to 9 consists of the genealogies of Israel from Adam to the post exile period. The immediate purpose of these genealogies seems to be the resettling of the land in accordance with public records. Those who had returned from the Babylonian captivity were entitled to the lands formerly held by their own families. In the OT land had been apportioned to families and could not be sold in perpetuity out of the family (Lev 25).

    In the same way, the priesthood was hereditary. A priest was to be succeeded by his son.

    All scriptures are profitable, but not all scriptures are at the same profitability. These genealogies are useful for us to understand the genealogies on OT characters. For example we found that Moses is the great grandson of Levi (6:3), Absalom is the 3rd son of David (3:2), and all the kings of Judah is listed in one page (3:10-16). These genealogies however need not be read for devotional purposes as often as some other part of scriptures.

    v1: [The people of Judah were taken captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.] The writer reminds the Jews who have returned from Babylon that it was the unfaithfulness of their forefather that cause them to be exile by the Babylonian. This implies a calling to a faithful life in obedience to Yahweh. Later in chapter 10, the writer reminds the Jews regarding the unfaithfulness of Saul, which caused God to put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David. Have you been faithful to the calling the Lord has on your life?

    v20: As the grandson of Aaron, Phinehas was in charged of the gatekeepers, and the LORD was with him. It is one thing to be in a leadership position in a church, it is another thing that the LORD was with the person. When we are put in a leadership position, let’s pray that the LORD be with us, else our service would have no power, and no value in the eyes of the LORD.

    v28-34: [Some of them were in charge of…Others were assigned… But some of the priests took care of..] What a beautiful picture of God’s people faithfully serving the Lord in His temple together, each exercising his own gift and were faithful in the task entrusted to them. In the church, all members should exercise their spiritual gifts to serve God by serving each other.

  • 1 Chronicles Introduction

    1 Chronicles Introduction

    Author

    1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles were originally one book. Together with Ezra and Nehemiah, Ezra was the most commonly assumed author of these books by Jewish tradition. One of the reasons why we think Ezra is the writer is because the end of 2 Chronicles (36:23) is exactly the same as the beginning of Ezra (1:2).

    Ezra used at lease 12 sources to gather the history of Israel is the kingdom period and compiled into one book.

    Same examples of where original sources are:

    1. Concerning the genealogies: The genealogies recorded in the book of the kings of Israel (1 Chro 9:1)
    2. Concerning King David: The records of Samuel, the records of Nathan and the records of God (1 Chro 29:29)
    3. Concerning King Soloman: The records of Nathan, the prophecy of Ahijah, the visions of Iddo (2 Chro 9:29)

    Title

    The original title in the Hebrew Bible read ‘The annals (events) of the days. The english title Chronicles originated with Jerome’s Latin Vulgate Translation (400AD), which used the fuller title “The Chronicles of the Entire Sacred History.”

    The Importance of 1 Chronicles

    1. All scriptures are profitable (2 Tim 3:16), thought not alike profitable
    2. Although at casual reading, it appears that much of the contents of 1st and 2nd Chronicles are mentioned in some other books in the bible, especially 1 and 2 Samuel. But if we look closer, some information can only be found on these books, some says over 55 percent of content is the Chronicles are unique.
    3. Repetition is not necessary redundant, it can be the same information presented in different angles. Paul said: “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” (Phi 3:1). Paul had no problem repeating some of his teachings in his epistles. A lot of the history of Jesus in Mark and Luke were already mentioned in Matthew, albeit they reveal more information.
    4. The genealogy of Jews was extremely important for the Jews in exile when they returned back to Israel. It was used to determine whether a person is from the tribe of Levi, which allows him to serve in the temple.

    The Purpose of Chronicles

    There were three returns from Babylon to Israel:

    1. Zerubbabel in Ezra 1-6 (538 BC)
    2. Ezra in Ezra 7-10 (458 BC)
    3. Nehemiah in Nehemiah 1-13 (445 BC)

    The original intended readers of the Chronicles was for the Jews who had returned from Babylon to the promised land. Although they had returned, but the land has lost its previous glory for the following reasons:

    1. there was no Hebrew King, but rather a Persian governor (Ezra 5:3)
    2. there was no security for Jerusalem, so Nehemiah had to rebuild the wall (Neh 1-7)
    3. there was no temple, so Zerubbabel had to reconstruct a pitiful semblance of the Solomonic temple’s former glory (Ezra 3)
    4. the Jews no longer dominated the region, but rather were on the defensive (Ezra 4; Neh 4)
    5. they enjoyed few divine blessings beyond the fact of their return
    6. God’s divine present no longer resided in Jerusalem, having departed (Ezek 8-11)

    The purpose of this book is to remind the Jews of God’s promises and intentions about:

    1. the land
    2. the nation
    3. the Davidic king
    4. the Levitical priests
    5. the temple
    6. true worship

    All of this was to remind them of their spiritual heritage during the difficult times they faced, and to encourage them to be faithful to God.

    The emphasis of the history books:

    1. 1 Samuel: King Saul – The Kingdom according to the will of man
    2. 2 Samuel: King David – The Kingdom according to the will of God
    3. 1 Kings: Starts with King Solomon, ends with King Ahaziah of the Northern Kingdom
    4. 2 Kings: Starts with King Ahaziah of the Northern Kingdom, ends with the fall of Jerusalem and the exile into Babylon

    There are many similarities between Samuels, Kings and Chronicles.

    In broad outline,

    1 and 2 Samuel = 1 Chronicles

    1 and 2 Kings = 2 Chronicles

    The main differences are that:

    1. 1 Chronicles begins with a lengthy genealogy beginning with Adam but omits the stories of Samuel and Saul (except for Saul’s suicide).
    2. 2 Chronicles omits entirely the history of the northern kingdom

    However Samuel was written by Prophets Samuel (also a Judge and a Priest), Nathan and Gad, thus the emphasis of Samuel is on the authority of God.

    Chronicles was written by Ezra, a priest. Thus Chronicles’s emphasis is on worship of God.

    Jerusalem (11:4-9)

    Jerusalem is an important topic in 1 Chronicles.

    God has revealed to the Israelites through Moses on how to worship Him in the tabernacle while in the wilderness. They did not have a permanent place of worship while they were in the wilderness. Where ever they go, they would move the tabernacle with them and worship in the tabernacle.

    However before they enter Canaan, God told them in Deut 12 to “seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put His Name there for His dwelling.” (Deut 12:5)

    God however did not reveal which was His chosen place to anyone, because no one was thinking about God’s dwelling place, until King David came. The bible did not mention how did King David find out that Jerusalem was God chose dwelling place, however the bible did tell us David was the King who conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusite . He brought the ark of testimony to Jerusalem (chapter 15) and made Jerusalem the dwelling place of God.

    The following Psalms tell us how important Jerusalem is to the Jews and to God.

    [Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together.That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, to praise the name of the LORD according to the statute given to Israel.There the thrones for judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure.] (Ps 122:2-6)

    [If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget [its skill].May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy] (Ps 137:5-6)

    Church

    Jerusalem represents the present of God. When the Jews worship idols for generations and didn’t repent, God raised up the Babylonians to conquer the Jews and destroyed Jerusalem. The present of God is not longer in the city.

    Although Israel failed, our Lord Jesus succeed. The Lord was crucified on the crossed and the Church of God was born. The church of God is where the present of God is today. It is the real Mt. Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God (Heb 12:22-23).

    The purpose of the Church of God is to be the testimony of God to the gentiles world. Just like the purpose of Jerusalem was to be the testimony of God to gentiles nations.

  • 2 Thessalonians 3

    2 Thessalonians 3

    Request for Prayer

    v1: [… pray for us..]. Some Christians think only the more spiritual Christians should pray for the less spiritual Christians. No so with Paul. Paul, as apostle, an elderly brother, a teacher, a missionary, asked the young Church at Thessalonica to pray for him. Christians workers many prayers to uphold his works for the Lord.

    v1: […the message of the Lord may spread..]. Paul prayer request was not for him own personal needs, it was for the spreading of the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

    v2: […be delivered from wicked and evil men..]. The Lord Jesus taught us to pray to deliver from temptation. (Matt 6:13)

    Warning Against The Idleness

    God created men and gave work to man, before man fall (Gen 2:15). Men and women should work and be productive. For women who stay at home as full time mom is work. The writers were mainly concerned about Christians who do not work, but expect others to support them. Not only they do not work and stay idle, they were busybodies (v11).

    Missionary, teaching and pastoral and other Christian workers have the rights to be supported financially by other Christians (Gal 6:6, 1 Cor 9:3-14, 1 Tim 5:17-18).

    However Paul and his coworkers did not use this right (1 Cor 9:12, 2 Thes 3:9). They worked night and day, laboring and toiling (v8) to support themselves. This was a repeat of 1 Thes 1:9. These are the reasons why Paul and his coworkers worked to support themselves:

    1. But in order to be example of the rest of the brothers and sisters, [..how you ought to follow our example] (v7), [..to make ourselves a model for you to follow] (v9)
    2.  they do want to be a burden to the people they served (v9)
    3. do not want to hinder the gospel, for someone might misunderstood their motive. (1 Cor 9:12)

    Paul did not reject all financial supports from everyone. The Philippi church supported Paul financial, when Paul was in Thessalonica (Phil 4:16).

  • 2 Thessalonians 2

    2 Thessalonians 2

    The Man of Lawlessness (v1-12)

    I like the quote from Warren Wiersbe: “The purpose of Bible prophecy is not for us to make a calendar, but ot build character.”

    v1: [the coming of our Lord..]. referring to the Lord Jesus’s second coming.

    v1: [..our being gathers to Him]. Referring to the rapture of Christians

    v2: False teachers and self proclaimed prophets were teaching the Lord of the Lord was already here. Some even wrote forged letter pretending to be written by Paul.

    v3: [the day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed..]. Rebellion is greek is apostasia (G646), where the english word apostasy derived from. Before The Day of The Lord, there will be great apostasy, where many will not believe in the truth of God, and false teachings will be dominant in the church. The man of lawlessness is referring to antichrist. The name antichrist is only used by John in his 1st and 2nd letter. He is referred by Daniel as the “abomination that cause desolation” (Den 9:27). The Lord Jesus referred to the “abomination that causes desolation” as well (Matt 24:15).

    v4: [… sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.]. Many believer Paul was referring to physical temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, with the help of antichrist, and he will set himself up in the temple to be God. This phase could potentially be interpreted as the spirit temple of God, the Church of Christ. If we take the later position, antichrist could be someone who is extremely powerful in the church.

    v5: […I used to tell you these things]. In the short three weeks stay in Thessalonica (Acts 17), Paul taught them the Day of the Lord.

    v6-7: […what is holding him back….the one who now holds it back..]. Paul was referring to the Holy Spirit, who works in the church of Christ in spiritual warfare with Satan.

    v7: […till He is taken out of the way.] When the church rapture, the Holy Spirit not hold back the antichrist anymore.

    v7: [..the secret power of lawlessness is already at work]. The power of antichrist is already at work even in Paul’s time. It is a secret, until in the Day of The Lord, the antichrist will show his true identity, he will be revealed (v8).

    v8: [..Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of His mouth]. The antichrist and satan is very powerful, but in comparison to our risen Lord Jesus, their power is nothing. Lord Jesus will take them out with His breath.

    v9: […all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders]. The Lord Jesus Himself said: “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect” (Matth 24:24). So dear brothers and sisters, do not use signs, wonders and miracles by itself to judge a person is from God. We may look at the person characters, and the words the he preached. Miracles itself is not a prove of someone is anointed by God, he could be false prophet used by Satan.

    Stand Firm (v13-17)

    v14: We are called to shared the glory of Jesus Christ! How glory is our calling, we ought to live a life worthy of this calling.

    v15: […stand firm…hold to the teachings..]. Many Christians heard about the truth of God, but how many are standing firm and holding on to the teachings?

    v16-17: […eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.] Such comforting encouragement to know that our Lord loved us, and by His grace gave us all these blessings, so that we can stand firm.

     

  • 2 Thessalonians 1

    2 Thessalonians 1

    Worthy of God’s calling in our life (v1-12)

    v1: Paul as the main writer, together with his coworkers Silas and Timothy wrote this epistle from Corinth (Acts 18:5), soon after they wrote the first letter to the Thessalonians Church.

    v2: The Lord Jesus Christ and God are frequently mentioned together in NT, implying the equality of God the Father and God the son (Phil 2:6).

    v3: [..faith..love]. Faith and love go together. Our faith is towards God, and our faith is reflected by our love for each other. When faith increases, love increases.

    v4-5: [..counted worth of the kingdom of God]. We are saved by grace not by works (Eph 2:8). When we were saved, we became the citizen of kingdom of God. We are unworthy for such blessing. Paul said the reason why the Thessalonians were experiencing persecution and trials was because of the judgement of God. God’s judgement is like the fire in a refiner, purifying metal. After believers persevere through trials, they impurity will be less and they will be more like Christ. They are still unworthy of being citizen of the kingdom, but because of the works of Christ for them and in them, they will be reckoned, or counted as worthy.

    v7-8: [God is just..punish..do not obey the gospel]. God will punish the ones who choose not to put their faith in His Son, and reward those who put their faith on His Son. It may not be apparent in this age, but God will surely fulfilled His promises when His Son return to this earth.

    v9: [..everlasting destruction…]. God’s punishment is eternal. Suffering in hell will go on forever. Hells mean without the present of God. Hells will not experience the power of the Lord’s majesty.

    v11: […may count you worthy of His calling]. We are called live a life worthy of His calling. The means:

    1. The Lord a good purpose for our life, for His glory. We need to constantly pray that His purpose for our life will be done by His power.
    2. Our faith will grow and will result in acts that glorify His name
    3. We ought to live a life the glorify our Lord
    4. Wo ought to live a life so that the Lord is gloried in us
  • 1 Thessalonians 5

    1 Thessalonians 5

    The Day of The Lord (v1-11)

    Chapter 4 talks about the rapture (caught up, 4:17). Chapter 5 talks about the Day of The Lord. After the rapture is the Day of The Lord (v1). The Day of The Lord is also known as “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer 30:7). OT scriptures that mentioned the Day of the Lord are Amos 5:18, Joel 2:1, Zephaniah 1:14-18, Isaiah 2:12-21. It potentially refers to the seven years of tribulation at end times. Many believes that Revelation chapter 6 to 19 describe this period. In the Day of The Lord, the wrath of God will be upon mankind. God will judge the world and punish the nations.

    The Day of the Lord will start after the rapture of Christians (1 Thes chapter 4), and will end right before the beginning of the Millenium.

    v2: [..will come like a thief in the night]. The Day of The Lord will come in the most unexpected time, without warning.

    v3: [..peace and safety]. The world will be ignorant of the coming of the Day of the Lord. They are living in peace and safety right when the Day of The Lord strikes.

    v3: […labor pain of a woman..]. Labor pain is unavoidable, however after the pain and joy of holding the child. The Day of The Lord will be painful for the world. However it will follow with a glorious Millenium Kingdom, with Christ is the King of Kings.

    v4: [..sons of the light and sons of the day]. Christians are sons of the day, we should not fall as sleep. Instead we need to stay awake to wake for the return of the Lord.

    v8; [..putting on faith and love as breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet]. Similar to Ephesians 6, Paul pictures Christians as spiritual soldiers. Roman soldiers wear breastplate from neck to waist to protect their vital organs. Helmet protects Christians from attacks to our mind.

    v9: [.. God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation]. Christians will be raptured and will not go through the tribulation.

    Christians Life Waiting for the Lord (v12-28)

    v12: Christians ought to respect the our spiritual leaders, elders, pastors and teachers.

    v13: [hold them]. Plural pronounce is used here. Just as Phil 1:1. A local church should be lead by multiple elders, to keep each other accountable and limit the authority of any single person in a church, so that the Lord Jesus could be the only head of the church.

    v13: […live in peace with each other]. Are you in peace with your coworkers?

    v14: […warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patience with everyone]. Christians need to have our eyes open, and pay attention to the needs of brothers and sisters around us, and expend our hands to help them.

    v16-18: [be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances]. These are the most important characters of Christians life, this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus.

    v19: [do not put out the Spirit’s fire]. When the Holy Spirit gives us burden to serve, do not ignore His calling.

    v23: [spirit, soul and body]. Human is made of spirit, soul and body. (Heb 4)

  • 1 Thessalonians 4

    1 Thessalonians 4

    Living to Please God

    v2: […authority of Jesus Christ]. Christians teachers ought to teach in the authority of Jesus Christ. That means our teaching should have power, assurance and truth.

    v3: [..It is God’s will that..]. What is God’s will? It is all saints should be sanctified.

    To live a life that is pleasing to God is to live a sanctified life. What does it means to live a sanctified life? Paul said:

    1. avoid sexual immorality (v3)
    2. learn to control our own body in a way that is holy and honorable (v4)
    3. not passionate lust like the heathen (v5)
    4. do not wrong or take advantage of other Christians (v6)
    5. love each other (v9)

    In short Christians ought to strive to live a sinless, holy life (v7). We ought to remove all impurity from our life (v7). We need to learn how to listen and obey to the leading of the Holy Spirit (v8).

    If we live in a sinful, self indulgence life, God will surely punish us (v6).

    The Coming of The Lord (v13-18)

    v13: For Christians, when we die, we falled asleep, because we will be resurrected when the Lord returns.

    v13: For non-believers, all the family members could do were to grieve, because they had no hope. For Christians, we have peace for the Christians who died because we have hope that the saint is now with the Lord (Phil 1:21).

    Angels two the apostles on Christ’s ascension that Christ will return in the same way they had seen Him ascend to heaven. When the Lord returns, the following events will happen:

    1. The Lord will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God (v16)
    2. The dead in Christ will rise first (v16)
    3. The Christians who are still alive will be raptured in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (v17)
    4. Antichrist will start the seven years of covenant with Israel
    5. Three and a half year in the covenant, antichrist will break the covenant and claim himself as God
  • 1 Thessalonians 3

    1 Thessalonians 3

    Timothy was sent to visit the Thessalonians Church (v1-5)

    The history of Paul’s missionary journey from Philippi to Thessalonica to Bereas to Athens and finally to Corinth was recorded in Acts chapter 17 and 18.

    Paul, together with with Silas and Timothy, were in Berea preaching the gospel, but when the Thessalonica Jews learned about their work there, they came to agitate the crowds to stir up trouble to Paul, Silas and Timothy (Act 17:13). So The Berea brothers immediately sent Paul to Athens, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. Paul left with instruction for Silas and Timothy to join him in Athens as soon as possible (Acts 17:15).

    It is likely that Silas and Timothy joined with Paul in Athens not too long after that. It was at Athen where Paul and Silas were thinking about the Thessalonians Church and sent Timothy to strengthen and encourage them in their faith (1 Thes 3:2). It was possible that Paul later sent Silas to visit the Macedonia church also since Acts 18:5 recorded that Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia to join with Paul.

    Unlike other cities, Paul did not receive persecution in Athens. After he preached the gospel to the Athenians, and many believed in Christ, and then Paul left Athens to Corinth (Acts 18:1).

    After Timothy finished visiting Thessalonica, he and Silas came to join Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5, 1 Thes 3:6).

    The reason why Paul wanted to sent Timothy to visit the Thessalonica church was because they were under trials (3:3), being tempted by Satan (3:5).

    Paul was worried that this young church could unsettled by these trials (3:3). He knew they needed the encouragement from more mature Christians.

    Report from Thessalonica (v6-13)

    Timothy brought back good report from his visit to Thessalonica (Acts 18:5, 1 Thes 3:6).

    Their faith in Christ has encouraged Paul (v7). Often times, the faith of young believers is great encouragement for Christians workers.

    v8: [..standing firm in the Lord]. After we shared the gospel and people believed. We desire them stand firm in the Lord.

    v10: [Night and day we pray..]. Do we pray for the people we minister do?

    v12: […love increase and overflow..]. The sign of Christians is our love for each other and for the everyone else.

  • 1 Thessalonians 2

    1 Thessalonians 2

    The Reason of Ministry (v1-6)

    Many workers of God seek to please men instead to please God (v4). Ministers seek and long for praises from men, instead of praises from God (v6). We could look good from outside, it is easy to do in today’s world. We could attract many crowd, we could be famous among Christians circles, we could be successful in books sales, we could be busy in speaking at conferences.

    But God tests our hearts (v4). That is what matter the most to our God. If our heart is not right, nothing we accomplish on the outside will please God.

    Do we have greed inside us and need a mask to cover up ourselves? Most of us do, come before the Lord and repent, ask Him to be our witness.

    Ministers’ Love to God’s people (v7-13)

    Paul, Silas and Timothy love the saints in Thessalonica like a mother caring for her little children (v7), and like a father dealt with his own children (v11).

    How do you serve the people that God has entrusted to you? Do you love them like father and mother love their children?

    v8: Paul and companies did not just share the gospel. They are imitators of Christ, they are willing to share their lives with the church, just like Christ die for His church.

    v9: Paul and companies work with their own hands to support their ministry, they did not want to burden anyone else. The only exception is Paul received financial support from Philippi.

    Paul set an example ofCchristians workers today. Not everyone need to quit their job in order to serve the Lord. You can continue to work to support yourself and at the same time, serve the Lord.

    v12: What is the role of a father? To encourage, to comfort, to urge his children to live lives worthy of God.

    Encouragement (v13-16)

    The Thessalonians church was being prosecuted by the Jews, so Paul and companies comfort them by reminding them the Lord Jesus was killed by His own countrymen.

    The Glory and Joy of Paul (v17-20)

    We normally think our glory and joy is our Lord Jesus Christ. We seldom think about our glory and joy is the brothers and sisters we serve. Paul loves the Lord Jesus to a point he has to love His church. When God’s people grow, they became his glory and joy before the Lord Jesus. On Christ Judgement Seat, Paul’s glory and joy will be the saints that he served.