080226

 


https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/loi/hebrews-11.html
⚠️WARNING = ARMINIANISM⚠️
(i.e. sola scriptura, sola fide, no purgatory, only 2 sacraments, no pope, penal or governmental atonement)

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🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️Although there is little [tangible] evidence remaining of this victory today, we must remember that "the FORCES which operate in the UNSEEN realm, such as the POWER OF FAITH, cannot be dug up by the excavator's spade."

🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️‼️ [Rahab] made a great statement of faith... "I know that the Lord has given you this land." What a strange statement for a [profligate] woman, living in an ancient fortified city, threatened only by a band of desert wanderers! 

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️‼️❤❤ Because of her FAITH, Rahab the prostitute escaped the utter destruction of her city. She not only joined with the people of Israel but she went on to gain a place in the Messiah's line... It is amazing what FAITH can do!

The author... begins to speak more generally of the whole group of faithful... In GREEK STYLE he remarks how his time would fail if he had to give account of ALL the faith people.

(snip)


🌟🌟🌟🌟🙏🙏🙏SAMSON and JEPHTHAH were also TWO UNLIKELY CHARACTERS that GOD USED FOR MIGHTY VICTORIES.
‼️‼️‼️‼️💔💔💔 Samson by his great exploits of [GOD-GIVEN] physical strength helped Israel to begin subduing the Philistines. However, HIS PERSONAL LIFE SEEMED TO BE A MESS.

(snip)

💔💔💔💔‼️‼️‼️‼️ Even great King David sinned an AWFUL sin with Bathsheba. NEVERTHELESS, [when he REPENTED,] he did mighty things for God and came to be listed as the founder of the messianic line.

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ Samuel carried on an UNBLEMISHED PRIESTHOOD and led Israel for decades, NEVERTHELESS, he somehow FAILED to bring up his OWN SONS in the NURTURE and ADMONITION of the LORD (1 Samuel 8:3).

(snip)

🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️ When we think of "conquering kingdoms", we think of MOSES who conquered the kingdoms of Sihon and Og and of DAVID who subdued the Philistines.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ KING SOLOMON in particular "administered justice" (1 Kings 3:16-28). He also "gained what was promised" by FULLY EXTENDING THE BORDERS OF ISRAEL from Egypt to the Euphrates. JOSHUA also "gained what was promised" as he CONQUERED THE WHOLE OF CANAAN.
[BOTH WERE EXPLICIT CHRIST-TYPES TOO!!!!!]

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️For those who "escaped the sword" we think of ELISHA and his strange encounter with the army of Aram. In that episode an army of angels surrounded the enemy and rendered them blind and powerless (2 Kings 6:11-18).
[DUDE I FORGOT ABOUT THIS]

(snip)

For those who "routed foreign armies" there is no story so fascinating as that of Jonathan and his armor-bearer. Acting alone they began a rout which resulted in the Philistine army fleeing and being soundly defeated by King Saul (1 Samuel 14:14-15).

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ "Women received back their dead, raised to life again"... No doubt, for these Hebrew believers there were some FRESH stories that ALSO popped into their minds, like THE RECENT STORIES OF JESUS raising the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17) and the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead (John 11:1-45).

With this scripture, we are suddenly aroused from our twenty-first century Christian slumber to realize that bad things can happen and sometimes do happen to good people. Our lives do not just consist of a solid stream of [what we think of as] blessing from above.

🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜Jesus did make a special grant to us. Paul speaks of it in Philippians 1:29, "For it has been GRANTED to you ON BEHALF OF CHRIST not only to BELIEVE on him, but also to SUFFER FOR HIM …." Thus SUFFERING IS GOD'S GIFT TO EACH OF US. Although God IS a "giver of GOOD gifts" (James 1:17), sometimes THOSE GIFTS COME WRAPPED IN VERY ODD PACKAGES (James 1:3-4).

We might note that although a few people were raised from the dead in the Old Testament, there was no clear understanding of the final resurrection of the dead. This was so much the case that the major religious group, the Sadducees, did not even believe in the resurrection. Bruce points out that it was the OPPRESSION of Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century BC that caused the HOPE of resurrection to blaze. From that time on, with exception of the Sadducees, the hope of resurrection became a cardinal doctrine for the Jews.

The prophet Elisha was jeered by a group of unruly children (2 Kings 2:23-25).
...The great apostle Paul, whom these readers undoubtedly knew of, had already been flogged, chained and put in prison more than once.
Zechariah the son of Jehoiada was stoned to death by the order of the king and in the very temple compound (2 Chronicles 24:20-21).
...the prophet Isaiah was sawn in two by King Manasseh because he prophesied the destruction of the temple. 
The prophet Uriah was struck down by the sword under King Jehoiakim because he prophesied against the land and the city of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 26:23).
No doubt by the time this letter was written King Herod had already killed James by the sword (Acts 12:2 ff.).

Through the ages, some of the greatest men of God were wanderers who were poorly dressed and often mistreated. It is thought that Elijah wandered about in a sheepskin... John the Baptist was dressed in some very rough clothing made of camel's hair. These righteous and ill-clad men were "destitute, persecuted and mistreated." 
We think of poor Jeremiah who was imprisoned in a muddy cistern (Jeremiah 38:6).
In In Elijah's day, Obadiah hid a hundred prophets in caves to save them from evil King Ahab (1 Kings 18:1ff.).

"The world drove them out, thinking them unworthy to live in it, while in truth IT was unworthy to have them living in it."

When we think of all this we have to agree that Hebrews really is "the epistle of sufferers" as it has been called... God's people are really CALLED TO SUFFERING AND SOMETIMES EVEN TO DEATH FOR CHRIST'S SAKE.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to GAIN what he CANNOT LOSE."

The great truth that the author of Hebrews dealt with in detail earlier is again brought out. There was really no completed salvation under the Old Covenant. The blood of bulls and goats could NOT take away sin. EVERYTHING in the Old Testament was LOOKING FORWARD forward to the True Lamb of God, Jesus, who WOULD take away the sins of the world. The Old Covenant HAD to WAIT ON the New Covenant. So, in a sense, the Old Covenant PEOPLE had to wait on the NEW Covenant people.
"The fathers had ONE part in the PROMISES, and we the OTHER in the FULFILLMENT, and NEITHER WOULD HAVE BEEN COMPLETE WITHOUT THE OTHER."

This scripture truly is an astounding statement which should cause us to want to bow in humility. We are bound up together to all those in the Old Covenant, even to the great men and women of faith that we have mentioned. The Lord CALLS us to STAND UP WITH these of old.
"He CALLS us– with all our habits and hang-ups, warts and worries– to ACTION. We are CALLED to STEP OUT OF STEP WITH THE WORLD, to hop up on the stage of history, and TAKE OUR PLACE IN GOD'S ROLL CALL OF THE FAITHFUL."


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Help us on this day of rest to see goodness in all your creatures:
    open our eyes and our hearts to your love in the world.
– We praise you, O Lord, and we thank you.

Lord, we meet around your table as your family:
    help us to see that our bitterness is forgotten, our discord is resolved, and our sins are forgiven.
– We praise you, O Lord, and we thank you.


We recognize with joy
    that you, Lord, created us,
    and that you guide us by your providence.
In your unfailing kindness, support us in our prayer:
    renew your life within us,
    guard it and make it bear fruit for eternity.
Draw near to your servants, O Lord,
and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness,
that, for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide,
you may restore what you have created
and keep safe what you have restored.

The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words.

℣. Lord, let my cry come before you.
℟. Teach me by your word.

ACCOMPANY with CONSTANT PROTECTION, O Lord,
those you RENEW with these heavenly gifts
and, in your NEVER-FAILING CARE for them,
make them WORTHY of eternal redemption.

Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat
and rich food to enjoy.
Pay attention, come to me;
listen, and your soul will live.

Our approach to God and to things divine has two contrasting aspects. On the one hand we must be AWARE IN AWE of the SPLENDOUR OF GOD and of OUR OWN TERRIFYING LITTLENESS; this engenders a HUSHED STILLNESS in us. On the other hand there is JOY and CELEBRATION of what God has GIVEN us. Particularly in Christianity this is a FAMILY and COMMUNITY JOY, CELEBRATING our ONENESS IN CHRIST; the obvious way to celebrate this is a party with noise, food and drink. The readings on this Sunday are all about joy and celebration, and the first and third about a party. Isaiah hands us an invitation to the party. The invitation has two particular notes. Firstly, it is in similar terms to the biblical invitations from God’s Wisdom to COME AND SHARE THE BANQUET PREPARED BY WISDOM FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO LEARN GOD’S WAYS. Secondly, it is a fulfilment of the tradition of the covenant which dominates the Bible: God made an alliance, a special bond, with special promises to Abraham, renewed it and intensified it to Moses and again to David. When Israel shattered that covenant by constant rebellion, God PROMISED a NEW covenant, ratified AGAIN at a party, at Jesus’ LAST SUPPER with his disciples.

The eyes of all creatures look to you
    and you GIVE them their FOOD in DUE TIME.
You OPEN WIDE your hand,
    GRANT the DESIRES of ALL who live.

The Lord is JUST in ALL his ways
    and LOVING in ALL his deeds.
He is close to all who call him,
    who call on him FROM THEIR HEARTS.


NO CREATED THING can EVER come between us and the love of God MADE VISIBLE in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This lively expression of delight and confidence really concludes and sums up the explanations of GOD'S LOVE FOR US, as it is MANIFESTED and GIVEN to us IN THE SAVING ACT OF JESUS. This has been the fullest explanation given by Paul of just HOW Christ saves us, and how we are MADE A NEW CREATION and now LIVE BY THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST.
After that, the Letter to the Romans goes on to particular CONSEQUENCES and APPLICATIONS of this... It is Paul at his BEST and MOST ARDENT.
First, just before our reading, comes a series of excited rhetorical questions: ‘what can we add?’, ‘Can anyone condemn?’, ‘Are we not certain?’ Then the expression of Paul’s TOTAL CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S SAVING LOVE, from which nothing can cut us off.
In the biblical mind 7 is the perfect number, signifying completion: Paul first gives 7 hardships and trials which CANNOT cut us off, then 7 hostile powers which are POWERLESS against the love of God. The message is: THERE ISN'T ANYTHING THAT CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD.


When EVENING came, the disciples went to him and said, ‘This is a LONELY place, and the TIME HAS SLIPPED BY; so SEND THE PEOPLE AWAY, and they can go to the VILLAGES to BUY THEMSELVES some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘THERE IS NO NEED FOR THEM TO GO: GIVE them something to eat YOURSELVES.’

This lot have been three days on the trot, and there must have been nothing left at all. Jesus turns the disaster into a party for that huge crowd of people. Left to our own resources we are helpless, but Jesus can deal with that.
How many were there? We don’t know, for the numbers are SYMBOLIC. In the Bible ‘twelve’ alerts us to the tribes of Israel. So the twelve baskets of scraps show that the crowd is the twelve tribes of Jesus’ new Israel.
The way Jesus takes the bread and says the blessing must remind any Christian of the Eucharist. So this gigantic field-party was a sort of Eucharist, Jesus at the centre of his people, entertaining them and cheering them.
...meet your friends and celebrate Christ together!