A People for His Name

Reflections on Learning to Read Biblical Greek Better in 2011 (Part I)

January 7, 2012

This past year, I forced myself to read through the LXX and the GNT. Although this project was very demanding at times, it yielded some valuable fruit.

I had several goals in mind when I began this major project to learn to read biblical Greek better. I praise God that He enabled me to succeed in meeting each of these goals, although not necessarily to the same extent for each one.

Greater discipline in reading Greek

I wanted to get to the place where I would be reading Greek every day. In the first half of 2011, I missed reading Greek on at least 53 days; in the second half, only six. So, I did become much more consistent as the year went on.

In spite of not reading any Greek on about 60 days (about 1/6 of the year), I was still able to finish by reading much more diligently on the other days.

Increased understanding and knowledge of Greek

Reading through the Bible in Greek resulted in advances in my understanding and knowledge of Greek vocabulary, forms, syntax, and semantics. Of the four areas, I probably increased the most in my grasp of Greek syntax.

Especially when I came to read the GNT this past year, I had a better grasp than before of how to connect words and phrases together that are arranged in ways that differ greatly from English word order. I did not notice this advance as much at first when I was reading the GNT, but as time went on, it became quite clear to me that I am now able to put together Greek sentences with more skill and with less effort!

Additional insights into NT use of the OT

I had hoped to find many more insights into NT use of the OT through this project, but such finds were not nearly as common as I had hoped. One major reason was my missing many days early in the year, which forced me to read much more than I would have liked on many days of the rest of the year. Had I been more consistent throughout the year, I would have had much more time to absorb more of what I was reading and would surely have seen more connections between the LXX and the GNT than I did.

Another factor that may have affected how much I saw this time around was my previous reading through the LXX and the GNT over a period of many years. Because in much of that previous reading, I have examined what I read much more thoroughly than I did this time around, I have already made numerous discoveries before this past year, which may have meant that I had already previously found a lot of what there is to find in this respect.

Progress toward thinking more in Greek and less in English

This is the hardest area to assess progress in, but I think that I did progress some. I hope that similar immersion in biblical Greek in the years ahead will result in my noticing plainly that my thinking in Greek has truly progressed.

I praise God for granting motivation and grace to finish this project and for the benefits that He has allowed me to receive as a result of completing this reading through the Bible in Greek!

(In Part II, I plan to give a number of examples of helpful things that I discovered this past year.)

In Biblical Greek, Biblical Languages

Helpful information about "the Angel of Jehovah" in the OT

January 6, 2012

In a section entitled, The Triunity of the Godhead, Fruchtenbaum, a believing Jewish scholar, brings out some helpful points concerning the OT teaching about the Angel of Jehovah:

The Expression Malach YHVH

The second divine personality is the Angel of Jehovah – but who is He? The Angel of Jehovah is not to be taken as a title, but, following Hebrew grammar, it always functions as a proper name. This individual is always considered distinct from all other angels and is unique. It never appears in the plural. Nowhere in Scripture are the phrases “the angels of Jehovah” or “the angels of the God,” but rather there are three, and only three, different expressions which are used:

the Angel of Jehovah – Malach YHVH, always singular.

the Angel of the God – Malach Ha-Elohim, always singular with the definite article.

the angels of God – Malachei Elohim, plural, and is never used with the definite article.

The third of these expressions is used in general terms of ordinary angels. The first two expressions are both used to describe a very special and distinct individual – the Angel of Jehovah. We can see this in Judges 6:20-21, where the same Person is described first, in verse 20, as “the Angel of the God” and then, in verse 21, as “the Angel of Jehovah.” This is also brought out in Judges chapter 13; in verse 3, there is a reference to “the Angel of Jehovah” and later, in verse 9, this same individual is called “the Angel of the God.”

Consistently, throughout the Hebrew text, there is a distinction made between ordinary angels and this unique Person referred to as both “the Angel of YHVH” and “the Angel of the God.” The Angel of Jehovah is clearly revealed as being different in stature, nature, person and essence from ordinary angels.

—Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, Messianic Christology: A Study of Old Testament Prophecy Concerning the First Coming of the Messiah, 109-110; bold is in italics in the original

In Biblical Languages, Quotes

Addressing a Not Uncommon Contemporary Problem in Evangelism

January 4, 2012

Last semester, I observed another instance of a not uncommon problem in evangelism today. I hope that the following testimony concerning the incident will help others to avoid this practice.

On a Sunday afternoon, my visitation partner knocked on the door of a house. A man answered the door.

My partner introduced us to him and then proceeded to witness to him. After making some initial remarks, he proceeded to testify to him that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again.

My partner ended our witness to the man shortly after sharing these important evangelistic ideas, which he testified to him from 1 Corinthians 15. We then walked toward the next house to witness to them.

While we walked there, I asked my partner what he thought the core meaning of the term Christ was and whether what he had testified to the previous person provided him with a clear understanding of that information. My partner gave several responses to me as we waited for a response at the next door.

As we moved on to the next house, I continued to probe his thinking. Finally, he asked me what I was trying to get him to see.

I pointed out that the term Christ essentially signifies someone who is an anointed person. I then explained that Scripture never speaks of the Christ as being a self-anointed One; the term intrinsically carries with it the concept that He is the One whom God the Father chose.

I then encouraged him never to take for granted that a lost person will attach this right meaning to the term. I further exhorted him that we should be certain to communicate the vital truth that the Father chose Jesus to be the Christ. Based on this key truth, I urged him to testify to both Jesus and the Father whenever he testifies to lost people about Christ.

My partner readily concurred that the term Christ essentially has this significance and agreed that he should not have taken for granted that the lost person whom he witnessed to would have attached that significance to the term. He thanked me for pointing out this important matter that he needed to be more careful to communicate in his evangelism.

In every evangelistic encounter, we must do all that we can so that the lost people to whom we witness understand clearly that Jesus was the One whom the Father chose and sent into the world. Taking such understanding for granted, especially with someone whom we have never witnessed to previously, unnecessarily risks not providing him with vital understanding.

In Evangelism, Testimony

"Fifty Hours of Eyewitnesses"

January 2, 2012

“Let’s take the more than 500 witnesses who saw Jesus alive after His death and burial and place them in a courtroom. Do you realize that if each of these 500 people were to testify only six minutes each, including cross-examination, you would have an amazing 50 hours of firsthand eyewitness testimony? Add to this the testimony of many other eyewitnesses and you could well have the largest and most lopsided trial in history.”

—Josh McDowell, The Resurrection Factor, 71-72

In Apologetics, Quotes

Through the Bible in Greek and English in 2011!

December 31, 2011

I praise the Lord that He has sustained me throughout this year and allowed me to make it through the Bible this year in both Greek and English!


Section	Greek	English
OT	929/929	929*/929
NT	260/260	260/260
Bible	1189/1189	1189/1189

*Includes listening to 410 chapters of the OT from the Bible on MP3

Counting these two times through the Bible, God has now allowed me to make it through the Bible in English 24 times and in Greek twice since I was saved in January of 1990!

There were many times when it seemed that there would be no way that I would make it through in either Greek or English this year. Two changes that I made late in the year helped me to catch up and finish:

(1) Listening to the KJV on CD, including many times at fast speed; and,

(2) Reading many chapters in the GNT one verse at a time using BibleWorks 7.

As God directs and grants grace, I hope to read through the Bible again in both Greek and English each year for the next several years.

In Bible reading, Testimony

Will Jesus Raise You Up at the Last Day?

December 27, 2011

In His lengthy teaching about His being the Bread of Life, Jesus repeatedly asserted His key role in a future resurrection of the dead:

“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39).

“And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (6:40).

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (6:44).

“Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (6:54).

In these four statements, He taught truths that all people must heed.

First, Jesus highlighted that He was the Agent of the Father. He did so in several ways. He declared three times that He had been sent by the Father. Furthermore, He said that the people whom He would raise up would be those whom His Father had given to Him and had drawn to Him. Finally, he spoke twice that He would effect their resurrection because it was His Father’s will that He do so.

Second, the people whom Jesus would raise up at the last day would be those who were enabled to come to Him because of the Father’s work in them. Saying this, Jesus taught that coming to Him is something that people cannot simply choose to do of their own ability. For them to come to Him, the Father must work in them that they would do so.

Third, these people would be those who had seen the Son and believed on Him. Their doing so would thus manifest the Father’s work in them to put their faith in Jesus as His Son whom He sent. Their faith in Him as the Son thus would not just be faith in Him as Deity Himself; they would believe in His unique relationship to the Father and His role as the Father’s agent.

Fourth, Jesus would raise these up who had received eternal life because of their faith in Him. With this teaching, Jesus declared that eternal life was not something inherent to all people—all people must believe in Him in order to receive eternal life.

Fifth, they would be those who had received eternal life because they have eaten His flesh and have drunk His blood. This statement points to their belief in His atoning work that involved His giving His body and His blood for His people.* It also revealed that eternal life would be the present possession of those who had eaten His flesh and drunk His blood.

This analysis of Jesus’ statements points to the necessity for us all to consider the following points to determine whether we will be among those whom Jesus will one day raise up:

–Have I come to Jesus and believed in Him not just as being God Himself but also in Him as being the Son sent by the Father to do the Father’s will?

–Have I partaken of Jesus’ flesh and blood by putting my faith in His atoning work (cf. 1 Cor. 15:3-5; 1 Thess. 4:14)?

–Have I believed in the future resurrection of the dead and am I confident that Jesus will raise me up at the last day?

(For more about the resurrection see this important article)

—————————

*”What is meant by eating this flesh and drinking this blood, which is so necessary and beneficial; it is certain that is means neither more nor less than believing in Christ. As we partake of meat and drink by eating and drinking, so we partake of Christ and his benefits by faith: and believing in Christ includes these four things, which eating and drinking do:-First, It implies an appetite to Christ. This spiritual eating and drinking begins with hungering and thirsting (Mt. 5:6), earnest and importunate desires after Christ, not willing to take up with any thing short of an interest in him: ‘Give me Christ or else I die.’ Secondly, An application of Christ to ourselves. Meat looked upon will not nourish us, but meat fed upon, and so made our own, and as it were one with us. We must so accept of Christ as to appropriate him to ourselves: my Lord, and my God, ch. 20:28. Thirdly, A delight in Christ and his salvation. The doctrine of Christ crucified must be meat and drink to us, most pleasant and delightful. We must feast upon the dainties of the New Testament in the blood of Christ, taking as great a complacency in the methods which Infinite Wisdom has taken to redeem and save us as ever we did in the most needful supplies or grateful delights of nature. Fourthly, A derivation of nourishment from him and a dependence upon him for the support and comfort of our spiritual life, and the strength, growth, and vigour of the new man. To feed upon Christ is to do all in his name, in union with him, and by virtue drawn from him; it is to live upon him as we do upon our meat. How our bodies are nourished by our food we cannot describe, but that they are so we know and find; so it is with this spiritual nourishment. Our Saviour was so well pleased with this metaphor (as very significant and expressive) that, when afterwards he would institute some outward sensible signs, by which to represent our communicating of the benefits of his death, he chose those of eating and drinking, and made them sacramental actions” (From comments by Matthew Henry on John 6:28-59).

“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. These words are at the heart of the discourse on the Bread of Life, and have created great misunderstanding among interpreters. Anyone who is inclined toward a sacramental viewpoint will almost certainly want to take these words as a reference to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or the Eucharist, because of the reference to eating and drinking. But this does not automatically follow: By anyone’s definition there must be a symbolic element to the eating which Jesus speaks of in the discourse, and once this is admitted, it is better to understand it here, as in the previous references in the passage, to a personal receiving of (or appropriation of) Christ and his work” (NET Bible comments on John 6:53).

“Notice that here the result (has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day) is produced by eating (Jesus’) flesh and drinking his blood. Compare John 6:40 where the same result is produced by ‘looking on the Son and believing in him.’ This suggests that the phrase here (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood by the phrase in 6:40 (looks on the Son and believes in him)” (NET Bible comments on John 6:54).

In Evangelism, Interpretation

Progressions in a Major Key

December 23, 2011

Understanding typical progressions in music helps a guitar player become more skillful, especially with learning to play music by ear. This chart, Progressions in a Major Key, diagrams the typical progressions that often occur in Western music.

In Guitar Music, Music

Almost Done!

December 21, 2011

Ten more days to go, and I am getting close to making it through the Bible in both Greek and English in 2011!


Section	Greek	English
OT	929/929	889*/929
NT	194/260	260/260
Bible	1123/1189	1149/1189

*Includes listening to 369 chapters of the OT from the Bible on MP3

In Bible reading

The Trinitarian Birth Announcement to Mary

December 19, 2011

Luke is the only Gospel writer to record Gabriel’s first announcement of Jesus’ upcoming birth (1:26-38):

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Gabriel declared to Mary that she would give the name Jesus to her miraculously conceived Son (1:31). She was also told that the Lord God would give Him the throne that He would one day have in His eternal kingdom (1:32).

Hearing these statements, a perplexed Mary inquired how she as a virgin would conceive and bear a Son (1:34). Gabriel answered that these miraculous events would be the result of the Holy Spirit’s coming upon her and of the power of the Highest that would overshadow her (1:35).

Because of the work of both the Lord God and the Holy Spirit, Jesus would therefore be called “the Son of God” (1:35). This statement along with several other aspects of all the statements that Gabriel made to Mary does show that her Son would Himself be God.

These angelic declarations, however, do more than announce the fact that Jesus would be God Himself. Among other things, the references to Jesus, the Lord God, and the Holy Ghost in Gabriel’s statements to Mary show that she was given a Trinitarian announcement of the birth of her divine Son.

Mary’s ready acceptance of this marvelous announcement (1:38) displays that she believed the Trinitarian message that she received from Gabriel. Like Mary, anyone after her who would receive Jesus aright must accept not just that He is God Himself but also the Trinitarian truths (cf. Matt. 1:20; Lk. 1:45; 2:26; 30-31) that a right proclamation of the meaning of His name communicates.

In Interpretation

Intervals Chart

December 17, 2011

Learning intervals well is an important part of playing the guitar properly. My Interval Chart helps with learning this concept.

In Music

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