To correctly
answer this question, we must go to the Scriptures, the highest authority for
all. God honors His word above His name and He, Himself, cannot violate His
word, as He would then cease to be holy and perfect.
In I
Corinthians 11:17ff we have the Apostle discussing the Lord’s Supper within the
framework of proper worship. Starting at verse 26, we have:
26 For whenever you eat this bread and
drink this cup, you proclaim
the
Lord’s death until He comes. 27
Therefore, whoever eats the
bread
or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be
guilty
of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man
ought
to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of
the
cup. 29 For anyone who eats and
drinks without recognizing the
the
body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is
why
many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have
fallen
asleep. 31 But if we judged
ourselves, we would not come
under
judgment. 32 When we are judged by
the Lord, we are being
disciplined
so that we will not be condemned with the world.
The
word translated “judgment” in verse 29 is “krima” which has biblical meanings
of: a decree or judgment, a condemnation of wrong, a decision that passes on
the faults of others, the sentence of a judge, the punishment with which one is
sentenced, a condemnatory sentence, criminal judgment or sentence, a judicial
decision, lawsuit or court case. In the Authorized Version this word is translated
judgment fifteen times, damnation seven times and condemnation five times. The
context here is with reference to eating and drinking so as to incur the
judgment or punishment of God. Since the passage deals with the Corinthian
believers and does not include a reproof for including unbelievers in the
ordinance of the Lord, it appears that only believers are addressed with
regards to this judgment.
The
Lord’s Supper is of course entirely Hebraic in concept and should be understood
in this light. There are four cups within the framework of the Passover Supper.
The first cup is part of The Kiddush or Thanksgiving. This is the Cup of
Sanctification and correlates with God bringing out the Jewish nation from the
burden of the Egyptians to be separated to Himself. This cup is refilled
completely to become the second cup, The Cup of Judgment or Deliverance. This
cup coincides with The Cup of Wrath, concerning which Jesus petitioned, “Take
this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thy Will Be Done”. It should be noted
here, that there exists a comparative portion within the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy
Will Be Done”, is seen in context of The Cup of Wrath offered spiritually to
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. A spiritual equivalent of this cup may
parallel God’s foreknown difficult paths for disciples, as seen in Jesus’
discussion with John and James, the sons of Zebedee in Mark 10:35ff. What
follows the drinking of this cup is the Passover meal, itself. The passages in
the New Testament gospels concerning the Lord’s Supper begin after The Cup of
Wrath and prior to the Third Cup, The Cup of Redemption. The Cup of Redemption
is what is being discussed in our I Corinthians passage, as well. I think it
pertinent, at this point, to say that Judas leaves early in the Shulcan Orech
or Passover Supper, i.e. before the bread is broken by Jesus, where He says, “This
is my body”; this approximates with the Birka Hamazon or “The Blessing After
the Meal”. What follows then is the
Ha-Geulah or The Third Cup: The Cup of Redemption. The Third Cup is
contextually where Jesus says, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which
is shed for you.” Betrayers are not seen partaking of this blessing, neither
the cup nor the broken bread; which brings me back to the text, I Corinthians
11.
I
Corinthians 11:30-32 NIV
30 That is why many among you are weak
and sick, and a number of
you
have fallen asleep (died). 31 But if
we judged ourselves, we would
not
come under judgment. 32 When we are
judged by the Lord, we are
being
disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
The
word “judged” in verse 31 is “diakrino” which means “to discern” or “to
separate or make a distinction”. The word “judgment” that follows is “krino”,
it is the word defined above in verse 29. It deals with a sentence passed. The
jest of this verse is: “If we, as believers, would make correct discernment
about ourselves, we would not fall under God’s pronounced judgment upon us. The
possibility of a pronounced judgment on the believer, in this context, is
essential or this entire verse falls into the realm of nonsense. So we see that
believer’s can come under the judgment of God.
In
verse 32, the word “judged” is the word “krino” again. A sentence or judgment
passed by the Lord on the believer. The word “disciplined” is “paideuo” which
has the following possible definitions, in this context: chastening by the
affliction of evils and calamities, to chastise with blows, to scourge as with
a whip, a son being punished by his father, a judge ordering one to be scourged
with a whip. Of these definitions, “the afflictions of evils and calamities”
appear to be most closely related to what has been described in verse 30, where
many have become weak, sick and a number have died.
Eternal Condemnation?
The
word “condemned” is “katakrino”. It is a strengthened form of the word “krino”
(seen many times above). Its word group is used for divine judgment (Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament (abridged), Gerhard Kittel
and Gerhard Friedrich, p 469). It means “to condemn”, incorporating both
verdict and execution. This word is used of “total divine condemnation”. This is
the word found in Romans 8:1, and it becomes crucial for the reader to settle
whether it concerns every professing believer or only those “who walk not after
the flesh”. I believe that this is the phrase that is found in the Authorized
Version and is not found in many of the newer ones. I personally believe that
the rest of scripture readily allows for this phrase’s inclusion and that its
omission changes things considerably. But I leave this to the reader’s further
study and convictions. At this point, we see that the believer can indeed come
under judgment from God. That it could include physical death is a given from
verse 30. What becomes imperative to settle here is whether the judgment by the
Lord in verse 32 is a mandated fact upon such transgressions, and do these chastisements
always affect the necessary change away from “the condemnation of the world”,
for it can be proved that “the condemnation of the world’ is a reference to
“eternal damnation”, another possible translation of “katakrino”. “Eternal
damnation” of the world by God would be fitting in the sense that the word
“world” here, is used of “all the kingdoms of the world” in Matthew 4:8. These
are the kingdoms of Satan. “The world and its desires pass away”, I John 2:17.
“The whole world is under the control of the evil one”, I John 5:19 (NIV).
Other relevant Scriptures using the word, “katakrino”, in this sense are:
“By faith Noah, being warned
of God of things not seen as yet,
moved with fear, prepared an
ark to the saving of his house;
by the which he condemned
(katakrino) the world, and became
heir of the righteousness
which is by faith.” Hebrews 11:7
“The men of Nineveh shall rise
in judgment with this generation,
and shall condemn (katakrino)
it: because they repented at the
preaching of Jonas; and,
behold, a greater than Jonas [is] here.
The queen of the south shall
rise up in the judgment with this
generation, and shall condemn
(katakrino) it: for she came from
the uttermost parts of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
and, behold, a greater than
Solomon [is] here.”
Matthew 12:41,42
“And turning the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes
condemned (katakrino) [them]
with an overthrow making
[them] an ensample unto those
that after should live ungodly;”
2 Peter 2:6
“Then Judas, which had
betrayed him, when he saw that he
was condemned (katakrino),
repented himself, and brought again the
thirty pieces of silver to the
chief priests and elders,”
Matthew 27:3
Idolatry and The Lord’s Supper
At
this place, I would like to delve a little deeper into the text of I
Corinthians 11. There has been some speculation as to what verse 27 actually
means. Some have, in recent times, determined that it is with regards to a lack
of faith in appropriating the promises of God from all forms of judgment. i.e. some
people believe that the Scripture: “Whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup
of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body
and blood of the Lord”, pertains to the sin of unbelief for protection. I
believe that this Scripture is with regards to the context of impropriety in worship
shown by the Corinthian church. In particular, I feel that the passages
concerning “the cup of the Lord” and “the Lord’s table” are crucial in I
Corinthians 10:20-22. (Note: I did not gain any insight from Commentaries on
this portion of this discussion, this has been the fruit of mine own personal
study, but I would not doubt that others have come to the same conclusion).
I Corinthians 10:14-22
14 Therefore, my dear friends,
flee from idolatry. 15 I speak
To sensible people; judge for
yourselves what I say. 16 Is
not the cup of thanksgiving
for which we give thanks a
participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the
bread
that we break a participation
in the body of Christ? 17
because there is one loaf, we,
who are many, are one
body, for we all partake of
one loaf. 18 Consider the
people of Israel: Do not those
who eat the sacrifices
participate in the altar? 19
Do I mean then that a
sacrifice offered to an idol
is anything, or that an idol is
anything? 20 No, but the
sacrifices of pagans are offered
to demons, not to God, and I
do not want you to be par-
ticipants
with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of
the
Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a
part
in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons.
22
Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we
stronger
than He?
These
passages are self explanatory when studied. I have put the phrases “the blood
of Christ” and “the body of Christ” in bold, in order to let the reader see
what I believe is a connection to the phrase of I Corinthians 11:27, “guilty of
sinning against the body and blood of
the Lord”. Two of the early churches, Pergamum and Thyatira (Revelation
2:14, 20), were upbraided by Jesus for “eating of food sacrificed to idols”. It is important to differentiate the above
chapter 10 verses from the passages in I Corinthians 8:4-12. Chapter 8 deals with consciences of
individuals who have food placed before them of speculative origins. These
people are not actively involved with the altars of such foods. The above
verses in chapter 10, and those of Revelation, concern individuals in active
idolatry. They are, in the very least, participating in activities where demons
are actively involved and then they are turning around to participate in the
Lord’s table. (It is important to note that the New Testament concepts of
idolatry include greediness and covetousness. My personal conviction is that
there are many more parallels. e.g. that people entering into the spirit of
rock concerts, put on by people under the influence of the demonic, may very
well be “partaking of the table of demons”). In continuing, both references in
Revelation 2, concerning the churches at Thyatira and Pergamum, had the phrase
“sexual immorality” directly connected to the phrase, “the eating of food
sacrificed to idols”. It would seem that idolatry is directly tied to sexual
immorality, a sin that opens the door for judgment upon the believer’s body: “He
who sins sexually sins against his own body”, I Corinthians 6:18. This verse,
in itself, shows that the believer can enter into judgment that is from God. I
believe that part of the context currently being discussed is with regards to
Christians having sex with prostitutes. This, itself, relates to idolatry in
that the city’s primary idolatrous temple was the Acrocorinth, a temple to
Aphrodite, found atop a hill overlooking the city of Corinth. Prior to its
destruction, the Acrocorinth was said to have 1000 female temple prostitutes,
called priestesses. There were male, sodomite prostitutes there, as well. Every
night there was a call to worship by a gong and a bell. In Greek, the actual
words of I Corinthians 13:1, “I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling
cymbal”, is a reference to what the Aphrodite temple used to call the men to
idolatrous, sexual “worship”. After the sounding brass and tinkling cymbal, the
1000 female temple prostitutes would go out into the city streets and “compel”
them to come into the Acrocorinth. The term to “Corinthianize” was coined to
mean “to prostitute”. It is believed that there was, at one time, approximately
one female priestess for every one or two males in residence in Corinth. A
Roman legion, in 146 B.C., was sent to Corinth for the express purpose of
destroying the temple of Aphrodite at the Acrocorinth, and ended up completely
destroying the city of Corinth, as well.
Side Note Concerning Additional
Passages in I Corinthians 11:3ff
I Corinthians 11:5-7
5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her
head uncovered dishonors her
head – it is just as though
her head were shaved. 6 If a woman does not cover her
head, she should have here
hair cut off; and if it is a dis-
grace for a woman to have here
hair cut or shaved off,
she should cover her head. 7 A man ought not to cover
his head, since he is the
image and glory of God; but the
woman is the glory of man.
Here,
the Apostle deals with women and head coverings, a factor that was stressed in
Corinth, but not in the other churches. It was the custom of the priestess
prostitutes in Corinth to take off their veils and let their long locks hang
down when prophesying in the temple of Aphrodite. It was also customary for the
married women of Corinth to either wear veils or have their hair set a certain
way, in order to show that they were married. As such, Paul wrote that it was
improper for the Corinthian women to take off their veils and let down their
hair when praying or prophesying in church. This was to eliminate inappropriate
comparisons. The people of Corinth, at that time, differentiated between temple
prostitutes and the other women of the city by the fact that the prostitutes
did not wear head coverings. This cultural distinctive evolved into a clear
principle: “While in Corinth, every good Christian woman should wear something
on her head.” The issue of a woman’s head being shaved, I Cor. 11:6, had to do
with the fact that it was also customary for the slave women of this region and
during this time period to have their heads shaved; the shaving of the head was
also a penalty for women who were found guilty of fornication and adultery. Some
suggest that the prophesying women in the Corinthian church were experiencing
“a foretaste of the resurrection life”, discussed in chapter 15, and therefore felt
that they were “temporarily loosed” from their husbands and had “become like as
the angels”; this was a justification for throwing off the veils, prior to
prophesying in church. If this were the
case, the Apostle was probably saying in 11:3 that husband and wife have a
constant, intimate union in the same way that humans have a union with the
Lord; that just as the man should behave in a manner that honors God and not in
a manner that brings Him disrespect, so should the woman behave in a manner
that brings only honor to her husband. Paul goes on to stipulate that since the
act of unveiling during worship could take on an undesirable, sexual
connotation, it is not appropriate in a setting where holy angels were in
attendance, I Corinthians 11:10. (Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 1, p
519).
Continuing On In the Topic of: God's
Judgment and The Believer
The
Bible says that, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God;
and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey
the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will
become of the ungodly and the sinner?” [Note: this is quoted from Proverbs
11:31, indicating that the words: “righteous”, “ungodly” and “sinner” carry the
Old Testament meanings.] “So then, those
who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful
Creator and continue to do good.” (1 Peter 4:17-19). The word judgment here is
krima. Again, it means a sentence passed by someone acting as a judge. This
passage is in reference to the family of God, so this verse is also indicating
that believer’s can fall under the judgment of God. This judgment seems to
involve “suffering”, verse 19. The Greek word for “suffer” in this verse is
“pascho”, which means:” to be afflicted” and “to undergo evils”. Verse 19
further stipulates that the redemptive aspect of this judgment can be realized
through repentance: “commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue
to do good”. The word “should” seems to indicate that repentance is not
necessarily a given for the believer.
Another Interesting Passage:
Revelation 2:20-25, The New Testament Church in Thyatira
20 But I have this against you: You let that woman Jezebel
spread false teachings. She
says she is a prophetess, but
by her teaching she leads My
people to take part in sexual
sins and to eat food that is
offered to idols. 21 I have given
her time to change her heart
and turn away from her sin,
but she does not want to
change. 22 So I will throw her on
a bed of suffering. And all
those who take part in adultery
with her will suffer greatly
if they do not turn away from the
wrongs she does. 23 I also will kill her followers. Then
all the churches will know I
am the One who searches
hearts and minds, and I will
repay each of you for what you
have done. 24 But others of you in Thyatira have
not followed
her teaching and have not
learned what some call Satan’s
deep secrets. I say to you that
I will not put any other load
on you. 25 Only continue in your loyalty until I come.” (New
Century Version)
It
may be a matter of speculation as to whether the Jezebel of whom this passage
refers is a Christian, but it is apparent that with the phrases “repay each of
you” and “others of you in Thyatira”, that Jesus is referencing the Christian
membership of this church. Also, the phrase, “continue in your loyalty” seems
to indicate that Jesus’ primary concern is with the spiritual purity of His church.
The judgment in these verses are: 1) “suffering greatly” and 2) death. That
these are in reference to the Christians in Thyatira can be deduced from the
phrases: “repay each of you”, “others of you in Thyatira” and “only continue in
your loyalty”, phrases that can only mean a group reference to the believers. Jesus
states that the death judgments have as a purpose to show “all the churches”
that Jesus “searches hearts and minds”. This, of course, would be a totally
absurd and irrelevant warning, if the judgments could not have affected the actual
people within the churches. Some would suggest that these judgments are
redemptive in nature, and though it might be suggested that “suffering greatly”
is redemptive in purpose, it becomes difficult to say that the death of the
Christian members could be redemptive, especially since these judgments are
said to be repayments for their deeds done, vs. 23. Jesus saying that these
judgments are repayments makes these them purely punitive. This passage stands
alone in correcting people who believe that Jesus’ punishments are ALWAYS redemptive
in nature. A casual study of this passage proves the error of this statement.
It is important to note that these verses deal with what is called by many a
“dispensation of grace.”
Hebrews 10:26-31:
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received
the knowledge of the truth, no
sacrifice for sins is left, 27
but only a fearful expectation
of judgment and of raging fire
that will consume the enemies
of God. 28 Anyone who re-
jected the law of Moses died
without mercy on the testimony
of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do
you think a man deserves to be
punished who has trampled
the Son of God under foot, who
has treated as an unholy
thing the blood of the
covenant that sanctified Him, and
who has insulted the Spirit of
grace? 30 For we know Him
who said, “It is mine to
avenge; I will repay,” and again,
“The Lord will judge His
people,” 31 It is a dreadful thing
to fall into the hands of the
living God.”
Some,
of course, believe that this passage deals with people who have returned to
legalistic observances of the law for their salvation. The people that hold to
this position are saying that the context deals with God’s people who have
become apostate by leaving salvation by grace through faith and are now
depending upon ritualistic observances of the law. The context can support this
interpretation, especially in the light of Hebrews 8:10 – 10:18, and the
explicit mention of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of grace. As to context, I
would probably try to identify the individuals involved in the context. To this
end, I find Hebrews 10:14 of great interest because it states: “because by one
sacrifice He (Jesus) has made (past tense) perfect, those who are being made
holy (present tense). This verse seems to suggest that those who are currently
abiding in Jesus and walking in the light are the ones that He made holy at
some point in the past. These are the people who are the ones who are forgiven
and whose sins are remembered no longer, 10:12. This seems in line with the
verse that says: “He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord.” (1
Corinthians 6:17). This verse in the Greek actually reads, “He that is
progressively being joined to the Lord, is one spirit with the Lord.” This, of
course, would preclude anyone who was defiantly sinning against the Lord. In
Numbers 15:30, it is written: “Anyone who defiantly, whether native born or
alien, blasphemes the LORD; that person must be “cut off” from his people. The
cutting off from God’s people meant a literal removal from the presence of the
people of God, as well as a removal from the covenantal promises of God.
“Cutting off”, in the Septuagint, is the Greek word, “ekkopto” which is used in
Romans 11:22. It literally is from the conjugation of “ek” meaning “out or off”
and “kopto” which means “to cut by a blow”. The containing passage is, as
follows:
Romans 11:17-23
17 If some of the branches (hardened Israel) have been
broken off, and you (Gentile
believers), 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 boast over those
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 be afraid. 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, pro-
vided that you continue in His
kindness. Otherwise,
you also will be cut off (“ekkopto”). 23 And if they do
not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God
is able to graft them in
again.
O.K.
I would say that being “cut off” is the judgment in this passage, and that it
parallels the Numbers 15 passage. This word is also used in Matthew 7:19 where
Jesus says: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is “cut down” (“ekkopto”)
and thrown into the fire. In Matthew 3:10, John the Baptist states: “The ax is
already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good
fruit will be “cut down” (“ekkopto”) and thrown into the fire.” The difference
between the Romans passage and the gospel passages seem to be that the branches
in Romans were at one time drawing sustenance and life from the root; i.e. they
are a reference to those who were once in faith. The Theological Dictionary of
the New Testament says that this word group can carry the meaning of
“irrevocable destruction either temporal or eternal”. In order for me to tie these
passages to the Hebrews 10:26-31 verses, I would logically have to show that
living in faith is in direct opposition to living in sin. This can be done in
many ways, however, I will use two scriptures: 1) “Those controlled by the
sinful nature cannot please God.” [Romans 8:8]; 2) “Without faith it is
impossible to please God.” [Hebrews 11:6]. It can therefore be said that “those
controlled by the sinful nature are without a living or lively faith.” This
correlates well with Hebrews 10:26, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after
we have received
the
knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left”. Because a deliberate
setting of the heart to continue in sin alone is sufficient for the apostate
state, it is not necessary to rely on external context for a proper analysis. The
Hebrews 10 passage deals with “the enemies of God” and the raging fire of
judgment. That this is in reference to the eternal fires of hell is mandated,
as this is the only Biblical judgment that could be a more severe punishment
(referred to in vs. 29) than the punishment of physical death in vs. 28. Since verse 27 speaks of “the enemies of God”
being consumed by fire, and verses 30 & 31 closes with the notion that it
is a dreadful thing for God’s people to fall into the hands of the living God, it must be reconciled that
the people of God could somehow be “the
enemies of God”; otherwise, the logical cohesion of the passage is somewhat
skewed. I refer to two scriptures: 1) “You adulterous people, don’t you know
that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a
friend of the world becomes "an enemy of
God”, James 4:4. Since the letter of James is addressed to believers termed
“my brothers” (1:2,9,16,19; 2:1,5,14,15; 3:1; 4:11, 5:7,9,10,12,19) It appears
that a brother or believer that establishes a friendship with the world becomes
by definition an "enemy of God. In addition, Philippians 3:18-19, speaks of
people in the Philippian church “whose god is their stomach”,” their glory is
their shame” and who now have their mind on earthly things. The destiny of such
people is destruction, probably a reference to eternal destruction. These at
Philippi are called “enemies of the cross”.
I
think that the second chapter of 2 Peter further elaborates the potential
judgment for apostate believers. Here, Peter discusses false teachers who “left
the straight way” by “wandering off to follow the way of Balaam”, vs. 15. To
leave a straight way, requires that the individuals were at one time on it.
These had “escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ” and have become “entangled with the corruption of the world and
are overcome”, vs. 20. They had “known the way of righteousness and have turned
their backs on” it, vs 21. It appears that they were people who at one time
were living in a faith that overcame the world (“This is the victory that has
overcome the world, even our faith”, 1 John 5:4) only later to have allowed
themselves to be overcome by it. This seems to add credence to the admonitions
to continue in the faith, to stand firm in the faith, etc. For it appears that
the possibility exists for one to no longer continue in the faith, become
apostate, and in my final analysis to have your final destination as “eternal
destruction” or as in the case of these teachers, “blackest darkness” (Jude
13). This is the logical analysis of both 2 Peter 2 and Jude, which both share
striking similarities regarding these “apostate believers” as well as the similar
Old Testament examples of God’s judgment: “They serve as an example of those
who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” (Jude 7) The inclusion of these
drastic examples of God’s wrath and judgment in these two texts, become
absolutely foolish if they do not have any serious implications, both in
severity and finality, to the believers addressed.
Matthew 24:45-51
45 Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master
has put in charge of the
servants in his household to give them
their food at the proper time?
46 It will be good for that servant
whose master finds him doing
so when he returns. 47 I tell you
the truth, he will put him in
charge of all his possessions. 48
but suppose that servant is
wicked and says to himself, “My
master is staying away a long
time,” 49 and he then begins to
beat his fellow servants and
to eat and drink with drunkards.
50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he
does not expect him and at an
hour he is not aware of 51 He
will cut him to pieces and
assign him a place with the hypo-
crites, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Here,
we have a faithful and wise servant in verse 45, who has the potential to
become the wicked servant of verse 48. It is stated that should the wise
servant, become wicked an unusual judgment will fall upon the servant. He will
be cut in pieces. The actual Greek word is “dichotomeo” having the literal
meaning of “to cut into two parts” or “to cut in half”. In the Septuagint, the
Greek Old Testament, “dichotomeo” is used in regards to the Abrahamic covenant
of Genesis 15:10. In covenant making, slaughtered animals were cut in half, their
pieces separated and placed opposite each other. After this the two parties
entering into the covenantal agreement would walk between the animal halves,
symbolizing that whoever broke the covenant between them would come under the
judgment of the animals, and could be justly cut in half. Tradition has it that
King Manasseh had Isaiah the prophet sawn in half. If so, it may be that it was
as a sign that Manasseh believed that Isaiah had broken covenant with the
people of God. It seems that the true prophets of Israel were accused of being
in violation of covenant in their denunciations of either the Temple, the city
of Jerusalem or the people of Israel, (cf Jeremiah). In the passage above, it appears that Jesus viewed
that the servant, who had become unfaithful and wicked, had broken his
covenantal relationship with Jesus and was therefore judged by being “cut in
half” and assigned a place with the hypocrites; a place of weeping and gnashing
of teeth. In Luke 12:46, this servant is “cut in half” and “assigned a place
with the unbelievers.” Matthew 22:13 and 25:30 both have the place “where there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” as being “into the darkness”. These seem
to be a reference to the place of eternal damnation. E.g. "The Son of Man
will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that
causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:41-42).
Summary
The
reason that I began this study is to show that God is to be reverentially
feared. We should take our salvation seriously. It is by the fear of the Lord
that we depart from evil. In speaking of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah prophesied,
“The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him – the Spirit of wisdom and of
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and
of the fear of the LORD – and He will delight in the fear of the LORD.” (Isaiah
11:2,3). I know that salvation is by grace through faith. We have access into
this saving grace by faith (Romans 5:2). Salvation is indeed a free gift.
Throughout the years, I have received many free gifts, and I don’t know of too
many that I still have in my possession. If you value something, you will keep
track of it and cherish it. It is my hope that, if nothing else, I have been a
provocation to biblical thinking. That you will study to determine what the
Bible really says about this topic. In the end, you alone will be held
accountable for what has been given to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment