Hebrews Thru Revelation

HEBREWS 11:21

Did Jacob Worship At The Head Of The Bed Or Leaning On A Staff?

Genesis says that Israel bowed to worship God “at the head of the bed.” The Book of Hebrews, however, while citing the same story, says that he did so “leaning on the top of his staff.” Is this a contradiction? Consider the following verses:

Head Of Bed: Genesis 47:31, “And he said, “Swear to me.” So he swore to him. Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of the bed.”

Top Of Staff: Heb. 11:21, “By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.”

This is no contradiction at all. Jacob asked his son Joseph to carry his bones out of Egypt to be buried in Israel. Joseph agreed, and then Jacob worshipped at the head of the bed while leaning on a staff?

A contradiction occurs when one statement makes the other impossible. This is not the case here. Both statements are true.

JAMES 1:13

Does God Tempt People Or Not?

There are different ways to understand temptation. God tested Abraham, but did not tempt him with sin. One person can offer a temptation to a second person, but the second person is not tempted. For example, I have no interest in sports whatsoever. If someone were to tempt me with tickets to a football game instead of going out to dinner at my wife, they’ve offered a temptation, but I’m not actually tempted. So, it can be understood differently.

God Tempted Abraham, Genesis 22:1, “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

The KJV says, “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am”

God Tempts No One, James 1:13, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”

According to the Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, the word “test” (NASB), “tempt” (KJV) is nacah. It means “1) to test, try, 2) to attempt, assay, try, 3) to test, try, prove, tempt.” This is why the KJV translated it as “tempt” and NASB, NIV, NKJV, ESV, and RSV translate it as “test.” Therefore, it was a test that God offered to Abraham – not a temptation to sin.

1 PETER 2:12

Should Or Should We Not Let Our Good Works Be Seen?

As with any piece of literature, to best understand its statements you must read them in context. The Bible is no different. Matthew 5:16 is in the context of the beatitudes (Matt. 5:1 – 7:29) where Jesus is teaching proper, good, and moral behavior. Disciples of Jesus are to light; that is, doers of good. 1 Peter 2:12 is where Peter is admonishing the Christians to live godly and holy lives before the unbelievers. We Christians live in the world among unbelievers and they are going to see how we live. Peter is telling us to act properly with unbelievers so that false accusations will not stand against us because we have lived with integrity among them.

Show Good Works

Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

1 Peter 2:12, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

Don’t Show Good Works

Matthew 6:1-4, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Matthew 23:3,5, “therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them…But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.”

By contrast, Jesus in Matthew 6:1-4, which is still in the same beatitudes where He told people to let their light shine before people (5:16) is stating that if the motive of doing something good is to be noticed by people, then don’t do that. Don’t boast about how “good” you are before people. That is wrong. There is nothing wrong with doing good works that will be seen before people, after all, we live among unbelievers. However, when you do good things, don’t do them for the purpose of drawing attention to how “good” you are.

Likewise in Matthew 23:3, 5 Jesus is addressing the crowds and teaching them about the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees and how they do their deeds in order to be noticed and admired. Jesus condemned this as is right.

People are supposed to notice your good works because your good character permeates them, not because of your attempt to have them see how “good” and “great” you are. The former is humility. The latter is prideful and wrong. The context of each verse tells us this.

2 PETER 3:10

Does The Earth Abide Forever Or Not?

Psalm 104:5; Ecclesiastes 1:4 and Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:10

Abides Forever

Psalm 104:5, “He established the earth upon its foundations So that it will not totter forever and ever.”
Ecclesiastes 1:4, “A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.”

Does Not Abide Forever

Isaiah 65:17, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

The context of the Ecclesiastes passage is revealed in the previous verse (3) which says, “What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?” In other words, the perspective of Ecclesiastes is from a completely human standpoint. The same is occurring in the Psalms passage, a description from a human perspective. Therefore, the writers will see the earth abiding forever because that is exactly how it appears. But, in Isaiah 65:17 and 2 Peter 3:10 the contexts are altogether different. They are speaking of the time in the future when the new heavens and new earth will be made. Take a look at 2 Peter.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells,” (2 Peter 3:10-13).

Since sin is in the world, the earth and all its works will be destroyed and cleansed, and a new heaven and new earth will replace them.

1 JOHN 3:9

Can A True Christian Sin Or Not?

Some verses seem to say that a Christian cannot sin, but others are clear that, while Christians ought not to sin, they still do. Is this a contradiction? How do we reconcile these verses? Can a Christian sin and still be Christian?

Yes, A True Christian Can Sin

1 John 1:8-10

“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us,” (NASB)

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us,” (NKJV)

No, A True Christian Cannot Sin

1 John 3:9,
- “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God,” (NASB)
- “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God,” (NKJV)

1 John 5:18,
- “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him,” (NASB)
- “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him,” (NKJV)

Is John contradicting himself when he says in one verse that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8), and yet he also says the one who is a Christian cannot sin (1 John 3:9; 5:18 NKJV)? There is no contradiction, but to see why we will need to look at the original Greek language.

Analysis: Can a Christian Sin?

In 1 John 3:9, the Greek word ποιεῖ (poiei) means to do, to practice. The V3SPA is shorthand for Verb, 3rd Person Singular, Present, Active, Indicative. Likewise, VPAN means, Verb, Present, Active, Indicative.

So we see that the word means to do, to practice. But that isn’t all. In Greek, like English, there are verb tenses: past, present, future. But in Greek, the present tense is not quite the same as the English. Instead, it is more of continuous action.

Present tense: “The verb tense where the writer portrays an action in process or a state of being with no assessment of the action’s completion.” Heiser, M. S. (2005; 2005). Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology. Logos Bible Software.

Finally, in 1 John 3:9 we see an infinitive form of a verb. The infinitive is “to go,” “to see,” “to eat,” etc. This is important.

“And he cannot sin (και οὐ δυναται ἁμαρτανειν [kai ou dunatai hamartanein]). This is a wrong translation, for this English naturally means “and he cannot commit sin” as if it were και οὐ δυναται ἁμαρτειν [kai ou dunatai hamartein] or ἁμαρτησαι [hamartēsai] (second aorist or first aorist active infinitive). The present active infinitive ἁμαρτανειν [hamartanein] can only mean “and he cannot go on sinning,” as is true of ἁμαρτανει [hamartanei] in verse 8 and ἁμαρτανων [hamartanōn] in verse 6.A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Vol. V c1932, Vol. VI c1933 by Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.; Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997), 1 Jn 3:9.

Thus, in the verses that seem to imply that a Christian cannot ever sin, John isn’t really addressing the question “can a Christian sin?” but rather “can a Christian live continuously in a pattern of unrepentant sin?”

Conclusion

There is no contradiction. What is happening is that John is saying that the one who is born again does not habitually abide in sin. He may fall into it, but he does not practice it as a lifestyle. The nuances of the Greek language are not carried over to the English, but when we understand what is happening, we then see there is no problem.

Finally, any Christian who would say that he does not sin anymore fails to agree with 1 John 1:8 which says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” He would then be self-deceived. Can a Christian sin? Yes. But the Spirit will continue to work in and through that sin as we battle it day by day. We won’t be sin’s continuous slaves.

JUDE 14

Is The Book Of Enoch Scripture Since Jude Quotes It?

Jude 14 quotes the book of Enoch. Is it Scripture?

“And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,” (Jude 14).

There is debate about whether or not Jude was actually quoting the apocryphal book of Enoch or something else. This debate aside, if this is a quote from the book of Enoch, it does not affect the doctrine of inspiration nor does it mean that the early church removed the book of Enoch because of its internal inconsistencies. First of all, the book of Enoch was not considered scripture by the Christian Church. There was some discussion on its canonicity by a few people, but the Christian Church did not include it in the Bible. Second, Jude only quoted something that was true in Enoch and it does not mean that Enoch was inspired. In fact, Paul quotes the pagan philosopher Epimenides in Titus 1:12, but that does not mean that Epimenides was inspired.