FOLKS, IN THE PAST 36 YEARS, I have been in many Bible Study Groups, most very good, others not so good. "Bill, Bill, Bill, what makes one Bible Study Group good - and another not so good? Isn't studying the Bible always good?"
Glad you asked. Yes and no. Studying the Bible is always good,
but sitting for an hour or more when only one person, the Leader, is
allowed to speak is nap time.
What makes a Bible Study Group, or a Forum Group, Discussion effective - as opposed to a "one man show"
Study/Forum Group meeting? This goes back to what makes a good Study
Leader? Notice I said LEADER and not TEACHER! I love to Lead a Bible
Study or Sunday School Class - but I will never say that I Teach a Bible
Study or Sunday School Class.
A TEACHER is one who is only happy when he/she can stand before a group
and do all the talking. A LEADER is one who will get a group discussion
going, then encourage others in the group to participate, ask
questions, make comments, etc. In other words, when the Group becomes a Discussion Group and not a "Listen To Me Talk" nap time Group - that is a good study group.
A good Leader gets the discussion moving, encourages questions/comments,
even at times allowing the discussion to go off on a tangent - before
bringing it back on subject. Why would a Leader do that? That is why
it is called a Discussion Group - and not a Sermon!
When we begin to discuss a Bible verse or passage - there may be many
different thoughts or interpretations of that verse in the minds of the
people in the group. Isn't it better to hear what a person believes
about that verse / passage - and then to lead that person, and maybe
others in the group, back to what the Bible truly tells us?
Will there still be different thoughts or beliefs regarding that
passage? That is quite possible, but at least we have the group looking
at that verse, where before, in their own private studies, they may
have just skipped over it to avoid confusion. Now they can experience
the group thoughts - and let the Holy Spirit guide them to a truer
understanding. Some may still disagree, we are all still flawed humans -
but at least all the group is now thinking about that verse or passage.
The Leader's job is to get folks talking and sharing. At times when the
discussion goes totally off into left field, the Leader's task is to
gently nudge the discussion back on track. And after allowing a serious
discussion to run its course, within time limits, the Leader will take
the discussion back to the one true authority - the Bible. "What does the Bible say about this?"
What has prompted me to take this wee journey down the "Good And Not So Good Study Group" path
today? Well, now that you have asked, recently I have been in an End
Times Facebook Discussion (?) Group - which only wants members who agree
with the Group Admin. It seems to have evolved into a "My Way, Or The Highway" discussion group - and today I was suspended. Oh, well, it happens to the best of us - and I am far from the best!
In this End Times Group, a fellow member posted about the book "The Coming Prince"
by Sir Robert Anderson - and I shared with him that this book is also
available as a PDF file for all who want to download it for further
studies.
The Group Admin posted: "Bill - for the sake of the group please don't introduce off-topic subjects like the age of the earth/universe."
And I responded to Admin: "In your group a member mentioned
the book 'The Coming Prince' by Sir Robert Anderson, and I shared that
it can be downloaded as a PDF file for further study. I also told the
person who mentioned the book that I do not necessarily agree with
Anderson's date of the Creation being specifically 4004 BC. But I do
strongly agree that the date of the Creation is thousands of years, not
the millions nor billions of years needed by Evolutionists and Old Age
Creation folks."
Rather than ignoring my fellow member, I was only responding to him and
offering a suggestion. But, quite honestly I cannot see how posting an
accurate comment about any of the Bible can be considered offensive.
How can we think of an Ending without thinking of the Beginning?
Then Admin told me the part which I should not have posted was: "I
do not necessarily agree with Anderson's date of the Creation being
specifically 4004 BC. But I do strongly agree that the date of the
Creation is thousands of years, not the millions nor billions of years
needed by Evolutionists and Old Age Creation folks. " Then Admin finished: "This post is off-topic and that is what I addressed."
After that, in this Group Discussion several other members responded to
that train of thought with comments about the Biblical genealogies and
rather than ignore them, I responded:
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Hi Paul: You tell me, "Bill Gray, The genealogies of Genesis ch5 (etc) are quite precise though. . ."
And Tom responds: "Paul, Yep. Any genealogical gaps would be during
the shorter life times in the Chronicles. Maybe a century or two; but
not 1000s of years. And secular history timelines closely match up with
the Biblical timelines during that period."
I respond to their comments: There are many versions of the
timeline of the Bible and the genealogy of Jesus Christ. His genealogy
is divided into three 14-generation periods in Matthew.
Matthew 1:17, "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations - from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations - and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations."
Pastor David Guzik, in his Study Guide for Matthew tells us regarding verse 17:
a. Fourteen generations … fourteen generations … fourteen generations: With this Matthew made it clear that this genealogy is not complete. There were not actually 14 generations between the landmarks he indicates, but Matthew edited the list down to make it easy to remember and memorize.
b. So all the generations: The practice of skipping generations at times was common in the listing of ancient genealogies. Matthew did nothing unusual by leaving some generations out.
However the two most commonly accepted view of the Creation timeline, in my view, would be those found in "The Coming Prince" by Sir Robert Anderson, and the 17th-century chronology "Annales Veteris Testamenti" by James Ussher, the Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland). Both use 4004 BC as the date of Creation. Both are available as PDF downloads for deeper study.
Those are respected chronologies and I do not dispute them - except in their effort to pinpoint the date of Creation as specifically 4004 BC. The most important chronology or genealogy is that of Jesus Christ. Matthew's genealogy, written for the Jewish mindset, traces Christ's genealogy from Abraham forward through Joseph - and Luke, the only Gentile writer in the Bible, in his genealogy looks from our modern Gentile view, from Jesus looking back to the beginning.
The two following excerpts are from previous blogs I have written in past years:
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The first excerpt is from: "Christmas In His Presence 2017 ~ International Bible Baptist Church Choir" - Dec 21, 2017
Jesus Christ came as the Incarnate God to save a flawed people. And, although Jesus was sinless - His genealogy found in Matthew contained women (which was not normally done in Jewish genealogies), prostitutes, and Gentiles. His genealogy contained flawed people, a number with great flaws.
This was to show us that no matter how flawed we are, no matter how far we have fallen - we can still meet Him at the cross, believe and receive His "paid in full" pardon - and receive His gift of eternal life. Even though He came as the Jewish Messiah - having Gentiles in His genealogy shows that He came to save, not just the Jews, but all people who will, by grace through faith, believe (John 3:16, John 1:12).
The genealogy of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 1 is typical of Jewish family trees in the time of Christ, it begins with Abraham and traces His family line forward through Joseph, the step-father of Jesus.
Matthew 1:1-2, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers."
Matthew 1:16, "And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ."
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And my second excerpt is from: "Salvation First - Works To Follow!" - April 9, 2014:
Christ's genealogy found in Luke 3 starts with Jesus, in typical Gentile fashion, and looks backward all the way through Adam to God.
Luke 3:23, 37-38, "Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, . . . the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God."
Looking back at Joshua in the Old Testament, we know that the harlot, Rahab, and her family were saved from physical harm or danger - but, we are not clearly told that she had initially converted to Judaism or became a believer.
Joshua 2:1 - 2:25, "Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. . . . (25) And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father’s household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho."
Hebrews 11:31, "By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace."
We assume that Rahab became a believer, from what
we see in Hebrews 11:31, "By faith Rahab the harlot did not
perish." We assume (and I believe)
that the Rahab in the genealogy of Jesus Christ - is the same
Rahab the harlot.
Matthew 1:5-6, "Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David the king. . . "
But was it the act of saving the Israelite
spies that gave Rahab eternal life? Or was it a conversion which
happened later while living among the Jews and marrying the
Jewish man, Salmon?
Since Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that "For
by grace you have been saved through faith. . . NOT as a
result of works. . ." - we must believe that Rahab's faith
which saved her eternally - was her faith in the coming Messiah which
she later learned about and accepted, through her association
with and marriage to Salmon, King David's great-grandfather.
To my fellow group members, Paul and Tom, although these thoughts do not
directly align with the main purpose of this group "Eschatology - End
Times Study" - I believe this short dialogue can be a benefit to many
folks. So, in conclusion, Paul and Tom, I pray that you and many others
have benefited from this short tangential diversion from the main group
thought.
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And because of this dialogue exchange in response to their comments, I
have been booted off that group. This seems to be getting to be a
habit. In 2015 the new publisher of my hometown newspaper, the TimesDaily (Florence, Alabama) booted me off "his" Religion Forum - because my posts were too Conservative Christian in tone.
I had been on the TimesDaily Religion Forum for 8 years, since Jan 2007. And when an avowed Atheist member posted, "Bill Gray should be killed!"
- I reported that to the Forum Moderator, who by then had become the
Atheist-leaning Publisher himself.
Not sure why the Publisher would
take on the task of forum moderator, but I was banned for life! Yet the
man who posted that threat was back on the Forum a week later. It
seems that Secularism and Atheism are cancers which continues to
metastasize in our modern society.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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