Archives For Interpretation

In order to determine more carefully what “blessed” means in Psalm 1:1, I did a BibleWorks 10 search on the Hebrew lemma for that word. In addition, I identified some additional verses that pertain directly to this study.

By studying this list of all those verses, I hope to understand for myself more accurately what that opening word of the Psalms means.

Gen. 30:13 And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

Deut. 33:29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

1 Ki. 10:8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

2 Chr. 9:7 Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.

Job 5:17 Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

Job 29:11 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me:

Ps. 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Ps. 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Ps. 32:1 <A Psalm of David, Maschil.> Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Ps. 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

Ps. 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.

Ps. 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

Ps. 40:4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

Ps. 41:1 <To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.> Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

Ps. 41:2 The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

Ps. 65:4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

Ps. 72:17 His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.

Ps. 84:4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.

Ps. 84:5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.

Ps. 84:12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Ps. 89:15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.

Ps. 94:12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;

Ps. 106:3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

Ps. 112:1 Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

Ps. 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.

Ps. 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

Ps. 127:5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Ps. 128:1 <A Song of degrees.> Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.

Ps. 128:2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

Ps. 137:8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Ps. 137:9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

Ps. 144:15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

Ps. 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

Prov. 3:13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

Prov. 8:32 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

Prov. 8:34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

Prov. 14:21 He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.

Prov. 16:20 He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.

Prov. 20:7 The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

Prov. 28:14 Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.

Prov. 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Prov. 31:28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Eccl. 10:17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Cant. 6:9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.

Isa. 30:18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.

Isa. 32:20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

Isa. 56:2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

Dan. 12:12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

Mal. 3:12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

I have been studying and pondering the account of Cain’s unacceptable worship in Genesis 4. Here is what I think is a very plausible scenario concerning that unacceptable worship.

Adam instructs Cain that God demands that we offer animal sacrifices and that the animal sacrificed must be the best of the flock. Adam also tells Cain that the fat of the animal offered has to be offered as well.

Cain pretends to agree with his dad, but in his heart, he questions whether what he was told was true. The serpent comes to Cain and says to him,

“God will accept other things in worship. After all, God is the Creator of everything. He created the ground and everything that comes from the ground. Do not listen to what your father said to you. He does not know what he is talking about. God will surely accept what you have worked so hard to obtain through your tilling the ground.”

Cain does not believe the divine revelation that was given to him from his dad who had received that revelation directly from God. He does not offer what he had been told God required.

God rejects his worship and appeals to him to do what he knows he should do. Cain refuses.

Cain’s unbelief of God’s revelation, acceptance of demonic teaching, acting on that demonic teaching, and refusing to repent when God confronts him with the demand that he do what is right seals Cain’s fate. From that point onward, Cain is of the devil.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Does God accept for use in corporate worship all kinds of instrumental music or are there some kinds of instrumental worship that He accepts and some that He does not? How many kinds of instrumental music does God accept for use in corporate worship?

To answer these questions properly, we must carefully consider five key requirements for a kind of instrumental music to be acceptable to God for use in corporate worship.

Not Sinful

For any kind of instrumental music to be acceptable to God for use in corporate worship, it must not be sinful. Most Christians hold that there are no kinds of instrumental music that are themselves sinful.

Not Prohibited

To be acceptable for use in corporate worship, a kind of instrumental music must also not be prohibited by God. Most Christians hold that there are no kinds of instrumental music that God has prohibited for use in corporate worship.

Lawful

It is not enough that a kind of instrumental music not be sinful and not be prohibited. It must also be lawful for use in corporate worship. Many Christians in effect seem to believe that all kinds of instrumental music are lawful for use in corporate worship.

Expedient

Just because a kind of music is not sinful, not prohibited, and is lawful does not mean that it is expedient (“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient” [1 Cor. 10:23a; cf. 1 Cor. 6:12a]). For a kind of instrumental music to be acceptable to God for use in corporate worship it must be both lawful and expedient.

Edifying

In order for any kind of instrumental music to be acceptable to God for use in corporate worship, it must not just be lawful and expedient. It must also be edifying (“all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not” [1 Cor. 10:23b]).

Conclusion

Scripture plainly teaches that not all things that are lawful are expedient (1 Cor. 10:23a). It also teaches plainly that not all things that are lawful are edifying (1 Cor. 10:23b).

Applying these truths to the realm of kinds of instrumental music, we learn that even if it were true that all kinds of instrumental music are lawful, it still would not be true that all kinds of instrumental music are acceptable to God for use in corporate worship.

Because only the kinds of instrumental music that are not sinful, not prohibited, lawful, expedient, and edifying are acceptable to God for use in worship, we can be certain that it is not true that all kinds of instrumental music are acceptable to God for use in corporate worship.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

The notion that everything made by humans “has guilty associations” that are relevant because of Romans 3:23 is a faulty notion.1 Consider what Scripture teaches in the following passages about something that certain humans made or used.

The Holy Anointing Oil

God commanded certain humans to make this holy anointing oil:

Exodus 30:25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.

All the humans that ever obeyed this command had “sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Nonetheless, God commanded them to make an oil that God declared was holy. In obedience to God, many people in Israel’s history made this holy oil.

Asserting that this holy anointing oil had “guilty associations” because of Romans 3:23 because those who made it were sinners does not establish anything of relevance or significance concerning divine acceptance of the legitimate human making of that oil and of the legitimate human use of that oil for the purposes for which God commanded that it would be used in His service.

The Sacrifices of Cain and Abel

From the standpoint of Romans 3:23, both Cain and Abel were humans who had “sinned and come short of the glory of God.” God, however, accepted Abel and his sacrifice, but did not accept Cain and his sacrifice:

Gen. 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.

4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Clearly, the notion that everything “has guilty associations” because of Romans 3:23 is a faulty and irrelevant notion for explaining God’s differing responses to the worship offerings and activities of these two sinful humans.

A Woman’s Anointing Jesus with Spikenard

Mark 14 provides another passage that refutes the faulty notion that everything “has guilty associations” based on the teaching of Romans 3:23:

Mark 14:3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. . . .

6 And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. . . .

8 She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

9 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

A woman anointed Jesus with some very precious ointment of spikenard. Scripture does not reveal anywhere that there were any divine commands for her to do so. We know, therefore, that the divine acceptance of her use of that ointment was not because she was doing something that God had commanded to be done.

Furthermore, because Scripture does not provide any evidence that Jesus Himself made the ointment, we know that whoever formulated or compounded the ointment was a sinner. The woman who applied the ointment to Jesus was also a sinner.

Nonetheless, Jesus declared that she “wrought a good work on” Him. Undeniably, therefore, what she did was acceptable to God, and the manmade product that she used to do what she did was acceptable to God for use in the way that she used it.

Any possible considerations about the ointment or the woman or her actions having “guilty associations” because of Romans 3:23 were totally irrelevant and are of no significance for our understanding that what she did with something made by sinful humans was acceptable to God and did not have any “guilty associations” worth considering or mentioning.

Conclusion

The treatment above of three passages shows clearly how Scripture itself refutes the notion that everything “has guilty associations” that are relevant and must be taken into account because of Romans 3:23. Arguing on such a basis and in such a manner is unbiblical and invalid.


1 This post combines and expands on material from three posts that I made in a discussion on Sharper Iron.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Over the years of my being a Christian, I have heard some people say that they think the account of how Jesus evangelized the Samaritan woman is a good passage for us to learn how we are to evangelize people. To examine that perspective, I would encourage those who hold that view to think carefully about three aspects of what Jesus did when He evangelized her.

First, He explicitly made it an issue that something about how she was living was not what it should have been:

John 4:16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

Second, He made it an issue that her worship was not what it should have been:

John 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Third, after the woman’s encounter with Jesus, she testified to His dealing with her in a remarkable way:

John 4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

A later statement about people that she evangelized shows that this was a key point in His evangelistic ministry to her:

John 4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

If you think that the account of His evangelizing the Samaritan woman is an excellent example of how we should evangelize people, are you prepared to do what He did when He evangelized her by directly confronting them about what is wrong in both their lives and their worship? Moreover, are you able to tell them all that they have ever done?


See also Evangelize Jesus and the Resurrection!

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

It seems to me that many believers today hold that we should regard rock music as being like things that people offer to idols. I would like to appeal to the brethren who hold such views to consider carefully the following line of reasoning.

Crucial Teaching about Certain Things Offered to Idols

Through the apostle Paul, God provides the most extensive treatment of issues concerning certain things offered to idols (1 Cor. 8:1-11:1). Specifically, concerning meat offered to idols, Paul says,

1 Corinthians 8:8 But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.

We must note carefully what exactly Paul teaches here. Paul says that meat does not commend us to God (1 Cor. 8:8a).

He explains that teaching to mean that those who eat meat offered to idols are not better (off) than those who do not (1 Cor. 8:8b). He also explains that those who do not eat meat offered to idols are not worse (off) than those who do eat meat offered to idols (1 Cor. 8:8c).

Applying Paul’s Teaching to Rock Music

If it is legitimate to hold that rock music is like meat offered to idols, applying Paul’s teaching here to rock music would teach us that rock music does not commend us to God.

Specifically, if we were to play or listen to rock music, we would not be better (off) than those who do not play or listen to rock music. Moreover, if we were not to play or listen to rock music, we would not be worse (off) than those who play or listen to rock music.

If these views are correct, anyone who holds that rock music is like things offered to idols must hold that playing or listening to rock music does not make a believer better (off) than not playing or listening to rock music.

In addition, he would then have to hold that churches that use rock music in worship are not better (off) than churches that do not. He would also have to hold that churches that do not use rock music in worship are not worse (off) than those who do use rock music in worship.

Conclusion

If you hold that rock music is like things offered to idols, do you also hold to the points that are the necessary consequences of holding that rock music is like things offered to idols? If you do not also hold to these points that are the necessary consequences of holding that view, I urge you to reconsider your belief that rock music is like things offered to idols.


See my post Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues Concerning CCM for much more biblical information about issues concerning what music God accepts in corporate worship.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Revelation 19 provides for us a striking record of a future time when there will be repeated heavenly exclamations of joyful praise to God:

Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. 4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. 5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Suppose that various groups of people on the earth would hear these composite sounds (produced by these heavenly beings) successively emanating from heaven but would not be able to hear distinctly the words being spoken. Suppose further that among these groups of people, some groups in certain cultures would regard the composite sounds as joyful, but other groups in other cultures would not regard them as being joyful sounds.

Would the differing characterizations of these sounds by differing groups in differing cultures show that what joyful praises sound like is culturally determined and does not have any objective, fixed character to it?

Because these sounds will be the composite sounds of righteous heavenly beings and because the Spirit has revealed them to us objectively to be the sounds of joyful praise to God, those cultures on earth that would regard these composite sounds not to be joyful sounds would be wrong in their assessments. It is not true, therefore, that what the sounds of joyful exclamations of praise sound like is culturally determined.

Rather, Revelation 19:1-6 establishes that the composite sounds of such joyful praise and therefore the composite sounds of such joyful music do have an objectively joyful character to them that is not culturally determined.

Furthermore, because all these exclamations of praise will be produced by godly heavenly beings, we know that all these composite sounds will be the sounds of godly praise. These facts, therefore, establish for us that the composite sounds of godly joyful music have an objectively joyful character to them that is not culturally determined.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Using the search capabilities of the GSE tool in BibleWorks 10, I am currently in the process of examining intensively the occurrences of elohim in the Hebrew OT. So far, I have not found a single occurrence of elohim functioning as the subject of a plural verb form where elohim refers to the true God.

Each of the following 18 verses has elohim with a plural verb. In every verse, it refers to false gods and not to Yahweh.

Exod. 32:1  And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

Exod. 32:4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Exod. 32:8  They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Exod. 32:23  For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

Deut. 32:17  They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

Jdg. 2:3  Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.

Jdg. 10:14  Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

1 Ki. 12:28  Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

1 Ki. 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

2 Ki. 18:33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

2 Ki. 18:35  Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?

2 Ki. 19:12  Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?

2 Chr. 28:23  For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

2 Chr. 32:13 Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? were the gods of the nations of those lands any ways able to deliver their lands out of mine hand?

Isa. 36:18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

Isa. 37:12  Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

Isa. 41:23  Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

Jer. 2:28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

Elisha was a great prophet of God who did many miracles. Elisha, however, did not have any innate power to do any miracles; the Spirit effected all the miracles that he did throughout his life.

Remarkably, even after Elisha had died, was buried (2 Kings 13:20a-b), and his body had at least partially decomposed (“bones” [2 Kings 13:21a]), the Spirit effected a miraculous resurrection through a dead man’s body coming into contact with the bones of Elisha (2 Kings 13:21b-e):

2 Kings 13:20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

This passage supports holding that the Spirit remained in his body even after he had died, been buried, and his body had been reduced (at least partially) to its bones. It also correlates strongly with other passages to stress the importance of preserving the integrity of the bones of a believer after death.

Moreover, it suggests that the battle between Michael and the devil for the body of Moses after he died may have been at least in part to prevent the devil’s misuse of the body of Moses particularly because his dead body was also the dead body of a prophet:

Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In a recent online discussion about what is sound doctrine concerning the doctrinal importance of narratives in Scripture, I presented the following six examples from Scripture concerning deriving prescriptive statements from narrative passages.

Descriptive—>Prescriptive #1

Jesus used information that is given to us in a narrative passage to issue a prescriptive statement based on that information:

Genesis 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Luke 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife.

The information about what happened to Lot’s wife is given to us in a passage that is a historical narrative of God’s judging Sodom and Gomorrah and delivering Lot and his two daughters from that judgment.

That statement reveals and describes what happened to her, but Jesus issued a command to His disciples that they must learn from that narrative information, keep recalling to their minds what happened to her, and by way of legitimate and necessary implication, not do as she did.

Obviously, it was not very likely that His disciples (or we) would face a situation that was exactly the same as she was in or even closely parallel to it. Nonetheless, Jesus commanded them to profit from that narrative information.

When Jesus issued the command to remember Lot’s wife (Lk. 17:32), He took “descriptive” information from a narrative account in Scripture in Gen. 19:17-26 and used it to utter a prescriptive statement in Lk. 17:32.

Gen. 19:17-26 —> Lk. 17:32 is a biblical example of how something that is given in a “descriptive” passage was legitimately used by Jesus to utter a prescriptive statement.

Descriptive—>Prescriptive #2

In 1 Corinthians 10:6, the Apostle Paul uses information provided to us in a narrative passage in Numbers 11 to provide prescriptive teaching to Christians:

1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

Numbers 11:4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?

Because of their lusting after evil things, God judged the Israelites fiercely. It’s important to keep in mind that God has not recorded (as far as I can tell from Scripture) that He had previously provided specific warnings to the Israelites not to do what they did on that occasion. Nevertheless, when they sinned in that manner, they experienced intense divine judgment at the hand of God.

From Paul’s stating that example was provided as an example to us with the intent that we would not lust after evil things, as they did, we see clearly that descriptive information from a historical narrative passage was used in apostolic prescriptive teaching to all Christians.

Descriptive—>Prescriptive #3

In 1 Corinthians 10:7, the Apostle Paul cited information from a historical narrative passage to forcefully issue an apostolic command:

1 Corinthians 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

In support of this apostolic command, Paul quoted from the end of a narrative statement in Exodus 32:

Exodus 32:6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Paul’s use of a descriptive statement about the sinfulness of the Israelites on a particular occasion in a prescriptive command to all Christians plainly shows the use of information from a historical narrative to issue a prescriptive statement to all Christians.

Descriptive—>Prescriptive #4

In 1 Corinthians 10:8, the Apostle Paul issued an apostolic mutual exhortation to instruct believers not to be immoral:

1 Corinthians 10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

He used information from a historical narrative passage as support for his exhortation:

Numbers 25:1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. . . . 9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

Paul’s use of narrative information (about the sinfulness of the Israelites on a particular occasion and God’s judgment of them for doing so) in a negative exhortation to all Christians teaches us that he used information from a historical narrative in Scripture to issue authoritative instruction to all Christians.

Descriptive—>Prescriptive #5

In 1 Corinthians 10:9, Paul instructed believers by issuing an apostolic mutual exhortation not to tempt Christ:

1 Corinthians 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

He based his exhortation on a historical narrative passage:

Exodus 17:2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? . . . 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?

As in 1 Cor. 10:8, Paul’s use of narrative information (about the sinfulness of the Israelites on a particular occasion and God’s judgment of them for doing so) in a negative exhortation to all Christians in 1 Cor. 10:9 teaches us that he used information from a historical narrative in Scripture to issue authoritative instruction to all Christians.

Descriptive—>Prescriptive #6

In 1 Corinthians 10:10, Paul commanded believers not to murmur:

1 Corinthians 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

He supported his command to all believers by referring to information provided to us in some historical narrative passages:

Numbers 14:2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

Numbers 14:36 And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,

Numbers 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?

Numbers 16:32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

Numbers 16:41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.

42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared.

43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.

44 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun.

47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.

48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.

Paul’s issuing a prescriptive statement to all believers that has as its basis biblical revelation provided in various descriptive passages shows the use of information from historical narrative passages to issue a prescriptive statement to all Christians.

Analysis and application of #1-#6

All 6 of these biblical examples of descriptive—->prescriptive have in common divine judgment against human sinfulness, and that judgment was recorded within the narrative passages themselves.

This analysis supports going to other narrative passages that speak explicitly of divine judgment against human sinfulness and issuing prescriptive statements to Christians not to sin in those same ways. Other factors must also be considered in formulating such prescriptive statements from such narrative passages, such as explicit NT teaching that would indicate that making such prescriptive statements to Christians would not be legitimate.

The ultimate justification for formulating such prescriptive statements comes directly from explicit teaching by Scripture about itself that all Scripture is profitable not just for doctrine but also for reproof (convicting us of sinfulness), correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

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