Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem
Acts 17
In Berea
10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
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New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
One of the most unpleasant features of today's political and academic scene is that one is supposed to believe everything that comes from the mouth of an "Expert". If a College Professor says "Math is Racist" or "All the Wars in History were started by White People", we are expected to just nod our heads and say "Ah...I didn't know that. Thank you for informing me of my guilt and shame. PUH-leaze, take all my money, my car, and my house, because I don't deserve to live." That may sound extreme, but it really isn't. Some of the pronouncements that have come from Academia in the past decade have been even more outrageous than the ones I made up. The State of Pennsylvania is even changing the names of BIRDS because of perceived racism.
Contrary to the demand for Blind Obedience, the Gospel Message challenges us to check sources to seek the Truth. If a Prophecy isn't fulfilled, or if a religious practice contradicts Scripture, it is not from God. Dr. Luke calls the People of Berea "noble" because they check the Scriptures to see if Paul's teaching is Biblically sound.
This was note easy for them to do, because they usually didn't have their own copy of the Torah and the Prophets. The Bible was written by hand on huge heavy scrolls which were held in reverence in the Synagogues an, perhaps, a private library. There were no Chapter headings or Verse Numbers. It was a real schlepp to "Search the Scriptures". This extra effort by the Bereans showed great discernment and respect for God's Word. We are so blessed to have The Bible at our fingertips, in dozens of translations, including the Interlinear Greek and Hebrew.
The following story comes from ten years ago, when I lived in Florida.
A friend of mine called me with concern. A famous TV Preacher, in a Veterans' Day sermon, had cited the story of the healing of the Centurion's Servant in the Gospel of Matthew. The preacher referred to the servant as a "Military Aide" and was somehow connecting the story to our own Military on Veterans' Day. My friend didn't think that was correct, but knew I liked to do Greek Word Studies, so he asked me to check it out.
So the first thing I did was look up the Greek word for "servant" that was used in the Text. The word was "pais", which could mean a young boy servant, a teenage slave, or even a "boyfriend". It was that unfortunate third meaning that caused a link to some very UNbiblical sites that were very upsetting! So I went to the same story in the Gospel of Luke to see what Greek word was used there. In Luke, The word was "doulos", which just means a lowly slave. That got rid of the "boyfriend" argument and the "Military Aide" argument with one Greek word. I called my friend back with my findings, and he was somewhat upset that the TV Preacher had made such an assumption.
From reading today's story about the Bereans, we can infer that God does not want us to just accept everything that is preached to us, even by people we admire. We are blessed to have wonderful study tools, translations, concordances, and dictionaries both online and in book form. From this Passage we can be confident that, if we hear a message that is puzzling to us, we can search the Scriptures to see if it's true. And that's "Noble" thing!
Here are The Scriptures for comparison:
Matthew 8:5–13 (TNIV)
When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly." Jesus said to him, "Shall I come and heal him?" The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.
Luke 7:1–10 (TNIV)
When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
One would think that, with all the tools available to us at the click of the mouse, that False Teachers couldn't stand a chance in our society. Yet, the Universities proclaim crazy, nonsensical theories that don't pass the test of History, and Preachers spout "prophecies" that are unbiblical and don't come true. At this point in time, we are still able to look things up and refute falsehood, but AI, CGI image manipulation, and Online Editing make it more and more difficult to discern reality.
That's why it's best to have your own personal copy of Scripture. In print. On PAPER.
Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.
"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)
God Bless America.
Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.
Hallelujah and Amen
ML/LTOS
