Bible Study Archives

How is that for a blog post title?

Ok, students, I have an assignment for you.

In Josh McDowell’s book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, he references a quote from the Jewish Babylonian Talmud which supposedly says, “Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Messiah has not come!” (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 4,37A). The Rabbi who wrote this was speaking in reference to the prophecy in Genesis 49:10 that the scepter will not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes.

I looked it up, and as far as I can tell, no such quote exists on that page of the Talmud.

So either somebody “invented” this quote because it makes a cool point in a sermon, OR the reference in wrong.

I called a “Jews for Jesus” friend of mine to see if he uses this quote in his evangelistic efforts, and he said, “All the time. It is very effective.” I asked him if he knew if the quote was authentic or not, and he assured me it was, even though he didn’t know where it could be found.

Then I aksed my new Jewish friends to help me find it, but they say the quote doesn’t exist. They suspect that some Christian invented (aka “forged”) the quote in an attempt to get Jews to become Christians. If true, somebody better tell all the pastors and authors who use this quote in their teachings (e.g. Chuck Missler, me, and others).

Finally, I tried to do some research online to find it, and discovered that lots of people have the same question, but nobody has yet found the quote. I tried to check some Jewish websites, and in the process, found out that many Jewish websites “rest” on the Sabbath (e.g. www.artscroll.com – try to access this site on Saturday before sundown). Very interesting.

So, I decided to ask you! Let me know what you discover…if anything.

Unexplained Mysteries

By Jeremy Myers

9 Comments

Here is one of the greatest mysteries of life: Why do stores stop selling seasonal items once the season arrives that these items are for?

I am new to New York, and so don’t have any of the items that living and driving in New York require – like sand, salt, shovels, sleds, gloves, coats, hats, snowpants (for the kids), etc.

I went to numerous stores today to try to find all of the above, and every store gave me the same answer, “Oh, we stopped selling those things back in September.” In Walmart, I went to the “Seasonal” section, and the employees were stocking the shelves with coolers, lawn chairs, and beach balls! It’s 20 degrees and snowing today! We still have at least three months of winter left, and then a few months of spring before anybody will be using coolers and beach balls!

Am I really the only person in the United States who wants to buy snow shovels and ice salt in December and January when it is icy and snowing? In our procrastinating society, I have never understood why stores don’t carry season items all the way through the season that the items are for. Or at least half way through. It is one of life’s unexplained mysteries to me.

So help me out. Honestly, do any of you actually buy your snow shovels in September and your beach balls in January?

Luke 10:25-37 Retold

By Jeremy Myers

2 Comments

One of the blogs I read is De-Conversion, which is a blog for and by people who struggle with many of the elements of religion–especially Christianity. If you want your faith to be challenged, or you want to know what many people in the world think of your beliefs, this is the blog for you!

One of the contributors, Quester, recently made a post about hell. He concluded this post with the following retelling of Luke 10:25-37, the Parable of the Good Samaritan. This retelling struck me, because it reflects my own journey over the past 4-5 years in my understanding of Jesus, grace, and missions.

Here is what he wrote:

One day, a theologian decided to challenge a street preacher. “Preacher,” he asked, “what must we do to be saved?”

“What is written in the Gospels?” the preacher replied. “What do you read there?”

The theologian answered answered: “It is through Jesus that we are saved. We must believe in Him.”

“You have answered correctly,” the preacher replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But the theologian wanted to justify himself, so he asked the preacher, “And who is this Jesus that we must believe in?”

In reply, the preacher said: “A man was walking downtown, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stole everything, even his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him to die. After he died, Jesus came to him, wearing a frayed loincloth and a crown of thorns. Blood dripped from his hands, feet, brow and side. He was beaten but not broken, and there was a fanatic gleam in his eyes when he raised his head to snarl,

“Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” (Mt. 25:41b-43)

Again, Jesus came to him, blond and blue-eyed with a sad smile and a pure white robe. He sat in the midst of quiet children and clean sheep and gently told the man,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Mt. 7:21-23)

A third time, Jesus came to him, almost unrecognizably: a young, Jewish man with traces of sawdust on his faded blue jeans. When he saw the man he took pity on him. He went to him and healed his wounds, tears of compassion falling down his face. Then he took the man up in his arms, and carried him to our Heavenly Father. “Look after him,” he said, “I have paid for any debt he may owe.”

“Which of these three do you think was a saviour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The theologian replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

The street preacher smiled, “Go and do likewise.”

New York Church Planting

By Jeremy Myers

3 Comments

Though the reason I came to New York is for a government job, I am convinced that one reason I am up here is for “church planting.” I won’t do this at work, of course! First and foremost, I will be a good employee.

However, after work, one of the things I want to do is plant a church. So in a sense, I’m church planting on the government’s dime! This kind of church planting does not require any fundraising. In a sense, since I am a government employee, all of you who pay federal taxes are technically supporting my church planting efforts. So thank you! I appreciate your generosity!

Anyway, I have already realized that it would be nearly impossible to plant a typical church in area of New York. In fact, as I meet more and more people, I am convinced even more that the only kind of church that will make any progress at all up here, is the type of church that most Christians would not consider “church.” It wouldn’t even be similar to what has come to be called “house church.” I doubt we would ever have a “church service” or have any paid “staff.” There will probably not ever be a “church building” or any sort of “church programs.” Definitely no bulletins, songbooks, Sunday school classes, overhead projectors, worship teams, or websites. We would not give ourselves a “church name.” I am convinced that the less “churchy” we are, the better we will do as the church in this area.

We would be so unchurchy, that most of the people in the church would probably not even know we are “church.”

Is that possible?

Right now, the church consists of five people (not that I’m counting numbers! ha ha): myself, my wife, and our three girls. This next year or two, we are going to focus on loving and serving each other, and loving and serving one or two of the families in our immediate neighborhood (within 100 yards of us). There will be no strings attached. We just want to love and serve.

Some people will say, “That’s not church planting! That’s just following Jesus’ instructions for believers!” Yep. I believe that if we follow Jesus, we will naturally be the church. And wherever the church is, the church gets planted. That is my entire “church planting strategy.” Simple. Organic. Reproducible.

Will this strategy result in a mega-church? Nope. But that’s not my goal. My goal is to change lives, and that gets done one person at a time.

Job Problem (Tentative) Solution – Part III

By Jeremy Myers

7 Comments

In the first several posts of this series I raised the question about how God deals with Job in the book of Job, why I am asking the question in the first place, and some of my preliminary thoughts on a possible solution. In this final post, I will state the tentative solution itself. Of course, some of the recent comments on the previous posts have been making me rethink even this tentative solution. You all are awesome!

Tentative Solution

The primary problem we seem to have with how God treats Job is that Job doesn’t know what is going on. It would be one thing if Job were in on the divine wager: “Psst…Hey Job! God here. I’m gonna teach that pesky Satan a lesson, and I need to use you. You’ll probably lose everything, including your kids, get real sick, and everyone will tell you just to curse me, but hang in there, and I’ll reward you. What do you think? Shhh! Here comes Satan! Wink once for yes, twice for no!”

If that had been the case, and Job had agreed, we might view Job as more of a hero than a victim. (Of course, there would then be the issue of Job being willing to let his kids die…but we’ll leave that alone). People all the time are asked to do hard things for the family, or their country, sometimes at great personal cost. If they agree, they are rightfully viewed and treated as heroes.

So if Job was really God’s champion as I suggested in the previous post, then why didn’t God let Job know what was going on?

The reason, I believe, is that He couldn’t! To tell Job what was going to happen to him would be cheating. Satan, if he found out about it (which he probably would have – he’s a crafty creature), would have cried “foul!” He could have accused God of stacking the deck. (Bullet pointed out that God’s foreknowledge kind of does this too. It’s an interesting point. However, notice that Satan didn’t seem to think that God knew what Job was going to choose. Hmmmm…).

So the problem is that to truly be a champion for the challenge that Satan proposes, Job must necessarily be ignorant of what is going on behind the scenes. God cannot tell Job what is going on, because that would ruin the terms of the challenge.

Here is one possible solution: Since the Bible clearly reveals that we are in a war, anyone who chooses to follow God knows that he or she may be called up to the front lines. When one chooses to follow God, they are, in a sense, enlisting in God’s army, or at the bare minimum, signing up for the Army Reserves. And just like in the Army, those who serve in the hardest areas move up in rank and responsibility. The higher you go, the harder your assignments get.

All of us who follow God need to have this sort of mentality. I think Job had this mentality. I doubt he became “the most righteous man on the face of the earth” through a life of ease and comfort. He (like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and the Prophets) probably became the man he was through many toils, trials, and troubles.

So when it came time for God to choose a champion, He had a good man for the job (pun intended). Job didn’t know exactly what was going on, but I believe He knew that whatever God was doing, it was part of the ongoing war, and the best thing Job could do was remain loyal. So Job is truly a hero after all.

Some Final Thoughts

I know this answer is not fully satisfactory. That’s why it’s tentative.

However, with this perspective on the book of Job, I am now viewing the book as a paradigm for human history. In some sense, we could be a grand “experiment” to answer some Satanic challenge to God. Maybe God created humans just to prove something to Satan (I’m not sure what), and be a lesson to angels (fallen and unfallen). If so, then we are God’s champions, and part of the fight is that God cannot let us in on the terms of the wager lest it affect our behavior and thus, the outcome.

In a similar way, Job is also the Bible in summary. In the Garden, all things were at peace, and Adam and Eve enjoyed life. Then Satan shows up and destroys everything. At the end of the book (both Job and the Bible), everything is restored – even better than it was before! In the meantime, there are tests, trials, and people coming around to tell us to just curse God and die.

Well, that’s all for now. It is 11:55pm, so although this post needs lots of polishing and editing (and probably lots of clarification), I’m headed for bed.

Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, Ch. 4, fol. 37 recto

Unexplained Mysteries

Luke 10:25-37 Retold

New York Church Planting

Job Problem (Tentative) Solution – Part III

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