I appreciate
your teaching and have learned so much.
Now the bible makes so much sense!
But, I do struggle with the idea that Genesis through Acts 9 and Hebrews through Revelation is 'for' us, but not 'to' or 'about' us.
Let me see if I can help. When it comes to “for us,” all 66 books of our King James Bible are for our learning. God wants us to know them. But then I will say that not every book of the bible and not every verse in the bible is written directly to us and about us, today in the body of Christ.
When
we rightly divide the word of truth, we understand that it is the 13 letters of
the Apostle Paul (Romans through Philemon) that are both for us and speak directly to
us and are about us living today
in the present dispensation of the grace of God.
It
is not just Genesis through Acts 9 that is for us; it is Genesis through the entire book of Acts. The audience
of those books, the people to whom God is directly speaking (to them, for them
and about them) is the nation of Israel.
Genesis
was written by Moses, the great deliverer of the nation of Israel out from
Egypt, the great prophet and law-giver.
Acts was written by Luke who also wrote the gospel of Luke. The focus of the entire book of Acts is on,
to, and about the nation of Israel.
Although the account of our Apostle Paul being saved is in Acts, every
bit of Acts has a Jewish focus.
For
example, the account of the Jerusalem council is in Acts 15. The focus of that is Jewish. But when you hear about it again in Galatians
2 written by Paul, the focus is on the primarily gentile body of Christ. Titus is mentioned in Galatians 2.
Galatians 2:1
Then fourteen years after I
went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.
He
is not mentioned by name in Acts 15.
Because he was an uncircumcised gentile, Titus is only referred to as
‘certain other of them,’ although he was a believer in the body of Christ.
Acts 15:2
When therefore Paul and
Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined
that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
So Genesis through Acts is written
directly to, about, and for the nation of Israel. It is the same with Hebrews through
Revelation. The context is the future of
the Hebrew people.
But, there are only 13 books that
carry the name of Paul. God began every
book that Paul wrote with his name. God
wants us to know who wrote them—it’s for our learning. He wants us to know that they are not only for
us, but they are to us and about us.
Romans 11:13
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch
as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
So in those 13 letters God is
magnifying Paul’s office.
1 Corinthians 14:37
If any man think himself to
be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of
the Lord.
So Genesis through Acts and Hebrews
through Revelation speak directly to and about the nation of Israel; but the 13
letters of Paul – Romans through Philemon – are for the mystery dispensation of
Grace and they are not only for us,
but they are to us and about us. Paul tells us that in Romans 15.
Romans 15:1-3
We then that are strong
ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for
his good to edification [building up one another in Christ]. For
even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them
that reproached thee fell on me.
Paul, our apostleI is
speaking to us gentiles in the body of Christ and he uses the Lord Jesus Christ
as an example for us to follow. He is
going to quote an Old Testament passage.
Why would he do this? Because the
book of Romans was written during the transitional period of the book of
Acts. There were both Jews and gentiles
in the church (the body of Christ) in Rome.
When Paul says that he is the apostle to gentiles he is telling us his
main purpose; but when you study the book of Acts, you’ll see that most of the
early members of the church, the body of Christ, were Jews. Paul would first go into the synagogues and
some of those Jews would be saved and become members of the body of Christ like
Paul.
Paul begins chapter
seven by saying that he ‘speaks to them that know the law’ (that would be the
Jews in the church at Rome). In Paul’s
early epistles (1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians and
Romans), the focus is on both Jews and Gentiles. So because there were Jews in those
assemblies at the time, Paul would quote the old testament quite a bit in his
first six epistles. As far as we know,
Paul had only written those five books before he wrote Romans, but they
contained a whole canon of Scripture from the old testament.
Romans 15:3
For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, [here
he is going to the authority of the written Word of God—the old testament...] The reproaches of them that
reproached thee fell on me.
This is a quote from Psalm 69:9. This is in context of Israel’s Messiah. Psalm 69 is a Messianic psalm that speaks of
the suffering of Messiah for the sins of his people Israel (Isaiah 53). We know from the progressive revelation of
the mystery of Christ that he died not only for the sins of many (Israel), but
for all.
1 Timothy
2:6
Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be
testified in due time.
It is in that context
that Paul goes back and quotes the old testament, even though the book of
Psalms is not written directly to you
and me as members of the body of Christ.
We’re a part of the mystery program, and Psalms is part of the prophecy program
to Israel. It’s about their earthly
kingdom and what their Messiah is going to do for them. But the application of the spiritual
principle does apply for you and me today for our learning. The ‘for
us’ part is that it is for our learning.
Reading Genesis
through Acts and Hebrews through Revelation is for our learning. God wants us to know that information and by
knowing that information we are able to rightly divide
the word of truth. God wants us to
know all of his word and he wants us
to rightly divide it. And when we know
all the information in Genesis through Acts and Hebrews through Revelation, and
we can see how different it is from what God has said to us through Paul, it
makes it easier to rightly divide the word of truth.
In Romans, Paul—speaking
to us, the body of Christ—tells us that
we ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not please ourselves. He gives us the example of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Romans 15:3
For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written [that is, on the authority of the written word of God in
the old testament), The
reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
The spiritual
principle is that we need to bear the infirmity of the weak; bear their burdens
and build them up. Our example is the
Lord Jesus Christ. We “know” that
because it was written in the scriptures that he did that—we “learn” from that
Scripture. That reference in the old testament is not written directly to
or about us, but we can read it and “learn”
from it because it is for us.
Verse 4 is the
explanation of what Paul had just taught us in Romans 15:1-3:
4For whatsoever things were written aforetime [the scriptures] were
written for our learning, that [here is the purpose] we through patience and comfort of
the scriptures might have hope….
What God has written down (in the old testament including Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) is written for our
learning. What is going to help us
patiently endure and give us comfort?
The scriptures! God has already
written down in advance in our King James Bible what he is going to do in the
future. We can trust it.
2 Peter 1:19
We have also a more sure
word of prophecy [that which is spoken
by God];
Romans 15:4
…, that
we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
What is hope? A confident expectation! When God says
he is going to do something, we can trust him.
God has made promises to the nation of Israel and he will fulfill
them. He is not fulfilling those
promises to Israel today because he’s doing something different. Paul’s epistles are scripture and in them he
is telling us that. So, God wants us to learn from his word.
Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 10. Again, this is an early book of Paul’s in
which he is rebuking the saints at Corinth because they were very carnal and
they rejected the Apostle Paul’s authority.
Remember, there are Jews and
Gentiles in the assembly.
1 Corinthians 10:5
But with many of them [the
nation of Israel that came out of Egypt with Moses]
God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. [You
will see in Exodus through Deuteronomy many of God’s nation provoked God to
wrath.] Now these things were our examples,
[How were these things examples for us the body of Christ?…] to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as
they also lusted.
Interesting! God put that information in the scriptures for an example to you and me today that we should not lust after evil
things. He did that so we could know
God’s attitude toward sin. It is a
written account of how God dealt with the nation of Israel under the law. He did not like their sin and they were
severely punished for it.
Now God will not punish us the same
way today. We can only understand that,
if we rightly divide the word. We are
under grace. But sin—whether it is under
the law or under grace—is still not pleasing to God.
1 Corinthians 10: 6
Now these things were our
examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also
lusted.
God is not pleased by lusting after
evil things whether you were under the law back then or under grace today. But the consequences are different. He brought direct, swift consequences to
them; but he doesn’t do that with us today.
Even so, sin does have consequences through the ‘sowing and reaping’
principle.
Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not
mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
We also learn that we are not to be idolaters…
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.
He is telling the Corinthians, and
us, don’t be idol worshipers. The
Corinthians, even as members of the body of Christ, were returning to idol
worship because of their culture. They
were going to temples of idols and eating food sacrificed to idols with the
idolaters.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15
Be ye
not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel?
Paul is telling them not to be
idolaters “as it is written.” We can go
back and read and learn about God’s
attitude towards idolaters. God’s
attitude towards idolatry never changes.
Look what else Paul calls idolatry:
Colossians 3:5
Mortify therefore your
members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
1 Corinthians 10:8
Neither
let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three
and twenty thousand.
They committed fornication and many
of them died instantly. Don’t you do it…not
because you will die instantly (you won’t) but…because you know God’s attitude
toward sin. All scripture is for us because we learn God’s attitude towards sin.
1 Corinthians 10:9-10
Neither
let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of
serpents. [Numbers 21:6]
Neither
murmur ye [speaking to the believing Corinthians], as some of them also murmured [we are not to go against
Paul’s authority as they went against Moses’], and were destroyed of the destroyer.
Now here is the conclusion…
1 Corinthians 10:11
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples…
Ensample is a sample of the whole—like
a small sample of food you can try at the store so you will know what the whole
tastes like. All those things happened
to the nation of Israel for ensamples
to them. The other Jews were supposed to
see it and know that if they did what their brethren did, God would punish them
the same way. But notice how Paul separates
it:
…and they
are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are
come.
He is speaking about two different
groups of people. The things written in
the old testament were written for
Israel as ensamples unto them; but they were also written for our admonition (the church, the body of Christ) as an ‘instructive
warning.’
Genesis through Acts and Hebrews
through Revelation are written to let us know and understand God’s plan,
purpose and program for the nation of Israel.
When we rightly divide and see his promises fulfilled for Israel, we are
confident that he will fulfill his promises to us as well.
Without Hebrews through Revelation
in the bible, we would have Genesis through Acts where God is making all these
promises to Israel and then we would have the epistles of Paul bringing in of a
new dispensation of grace through the Apostle Paul. We would think that God is done with Israel—but
he is not done with Israel! So, how do
we learn that? After Paul’s epistles we
have Hebrews (to the Hebrew people) through Revelation that show that he is not
done; and, that He will in fact give them their promised earthly kingdom.
Romans 11:29
For the
gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Without Hebrews through Revelation,
we would be left to think that God had made all kinds of promises to the nation
and didn’t fulfill them. Yes, they were
in unbelief, but God made promises. It
is in the books of Hebrews through Revelation that we know and learn God will complete His plan and
purpose for the prophetic program (as spoken by the prophets since the world
began), and bring in the Kingdom.
Luke 1:70
As
he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
Acts 3:21
Whom
the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God
hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Genesis through Acts gives the promises
for the nation of Israel, and the beginning of the promises being
fulfilled with the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts, Israel falls. And when they fell, God did something
different. It is in Paul’s epistles
(Romans through Philemon) that we learn that salvation comes to the Gentiles
and God builds the church, the body of Christ, in the heavenly places.
But is God finished? No!
Romans 11:11, 25-26
I say then, Have they
stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall
salvation is come unto the Gentiles…
For I
would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should
be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And
so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion
the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
So Hebrews through Revelation is
written for the future to say that God will continue his plan and purpose with
Israel when he is done with the body of Christ.
He will fulfill that Kingdom promise.
We learn about God’s faithfulness from Hebrews through Revelation.
1 Corinthians 10:11
Now all these things
happened unto them [Israel] for ensamples: and they are written for our
[the body of Christ's] admonition, upon whom the ends of
the world are come.
He is talking about the different dispensations. There was the dispensation of Law to Israel. But
now, we are in the dispensation
of grace. He is talking about the
culmination of all that God is doing in Heaven and earth. When Paul wrote his letter to the
Corinthians, he did not realize that the dispensation of grace would be as long
as it is. In his mind, it would end with
the rapture
in his lifetime. God wants every
believer to believe in the immanency
of the Lord’s return.
In conclusion the ‘for us’ is so that
we can learn about God’s attitude towards sin through Israel’s example, even
though he isn’t judging us immediately today.
We can also learn about God’s faithfulness and have hope because when we
read Hebrews through Revelation we realize that God will complete his plan and
purpose with Israel; but before he does that, he has to finish his plan and
purpose with us by taking us to the heavenly
places based upon grace.
Titus 2:13
Looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Titus 3:7
That being justified by his grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Hopefully this
helps!
†††
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