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November 2008
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson
93
I always like to begin
by acknowledging you and your participation in this Bible study. Thank you for being
here today with an open Bible and an open mind.
Besides teaching
the Bible I want to assist those who want to learn how to study their Bible, and
this is why I introduce basic Bible Study tools
at the start of these lessons from time to time. Most recently I talked about selecting a good
study Bible because it is the most important study tool. Today I want to talk briefly about a law concerning
Bible understanding that you need to be aware of. It’s called the “law of first mention.”
This principle
states when interpreting Scripture the place of first mention or
occurrence of a subject in Scripture establishes
an unchangeable pattern with
that subject and once established it remains unchanged in the mind of God
throughout Scripture.
Here’s an example: in Romans 11:17 our apostle Paul speaks
metaphorically about a “green olive tree” which represents both Israel and
Judah. The LORD God “planted” them in
Canaan, but when the time came for them to bear
fruit its branches were worthless so the LORD God pruned them
from the Tree of His Kingdom.
Following the law of first mention usually means
you’ll need to go to Genesis (the book of beginnings) to locate the subject at
hand and sure enough this is where we find the word “olive-leaf:” And the dove came to him at eventide; and
behold, in her beak was an olive-leaf plucked off; and Noah knew
that the waters had become low on the earth.
(Genesis 8:11 – The Darby Bible)
This was a sign from the LORD GOD that His punishment of man had been accomplished and the floodwater's were receding.
The Olive Tree is mentioned in the 1st
Old Testament parable, that of Jotham, and is named among the blessings of the
“good land:” And the olive-tree said to
them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and
go to wave over the tree? (Judges
9:9 – The Darby Bible)
The two witnesses mentioned in Revelation (the
book of endings) are spoken of as “two olive
trees:” These are the two olive
trees and the two lamps which stand before the Lord of the earth; (Revelation
11:4 - The Darby Bible)
In this example the
Olive Tree is referred to as an emblem (or symbol) of prosperity, beauty,
and religious privilege: Jehovah had called thy name, A green
olive-tree, fair, of goodly fruit with the noise of a great tumult he
hath kindled fire upon it, and its branches are broken. (Jeremiah 11:16 – The Darby Bible) (See Psalms 52:8; Hosea 14:6)
I pray this tool helps you with you Bible study but I
also pray it helps you to understand the symbolism behind Paul’s usage
of the olive tree at Romans 11:17. The olive tree, wild by nature, is the shoot or cutting of the good olive-tree
which, left ungrafted, grows up to be a “wild
olive.” (Romans 11:24)
In verse 17, Paul
refers to the practice of grafting shoots of the wild olive into a “good” olive which has become unfruitful. By doing so, the sap of the good olive, by
pervading the branch which is grafted in, makes it a “goodly” branch - bearing good olives. The Gentiles, once a wild olive, but now
grafted in, yield fruit, but only through the sap of the tree into which they
have been grafted. This process is contrary to nature (v24).
Please
go to Romans 11:19 where we’ll begin today’s lesson.
Romans 11
19: You will say
then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”
(Romans
9:19)
20: Quite right,
they were broken off for their (the Jews) unbelief, but you (Gentiles) stand by your faith (alone). Do not be conceited, but fear (God);
21: for if God did
not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you either.
The
Israelites (the natural branches) were
cut off because of their unbelief. But, as Paul says in v20, you Gentiles stand by your faith. Paul then warns the Gentiles not to become conceited toward the Jew, instead fear God. You see, arrogance
is the opposite of fear and contrary
to the will of God because arrogant people have no need of God: Likewise,
you who are younger, be subject to the elders.
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another,
for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).
In
verse 21 Paul explains why they should fear
God: for if God did not spare the natural branches (the Jews), He will not spare you (the
Gentiles) either.
Scripture
reveals the nation of Israel lost their unique position with God due to unbelief. Paul is warning the Gentiles, in the
Dispensation of Grace, this can happen to you.
If you follow Israel’s path, if you choose to forget God’s grace and your sinfulness; if you walk
in “self-importance, pride, and arrogance, then God will not spare you.
Romans 11
22a: Behold then
the kindness and severity of (the holy and Righteous) God; to those who fell (Israel), severity,
Sometimes
a small word such as “if” can
carry an important message. It certainly
does here. “If” the natural
branches (Israel) had truly feared the
LORD GOD, had they continued in His kindness, had they not become conceited, then they would not have experienced
being cut off from the Tree of God’s
Kingdom. In other words, the Israelites
could have had their King and the Kingdom here on earth, per the Abrahamic
Covenant. This is why Jesus was sent: For I
say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth
of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers.
Now
we know this didn’t happen but the fact that it didn’t happen doesn’t contradict
the promises of God. The Messiah came to
His own as promised, therefore, the King
and the Kingdom was a viable option. (Romans
15:8; Genesis 12, 15).
Romans 11
22b: …but to you (Gentiles), God’s kindness, if you continue in
His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
Here
Paul is saying don’t be conceited if
it happened to the nation of Israel it can happen to you Gentiles in the
Dispensation of Grace. If
you do not continue in His (God’s) kindness, if you become “arrogant” and do not fear God you can be cut off (from God’s grace) too.
Jesus
Christ’s Divine blood was poured out
onto Calvary for all, (both the Jew
and the Gentile) appeasing God’s wrath.
His sacrificial death for our sins reconciled every sinner to God the
Father: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified
as a (what) gift by His grace
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as
a propitiation in His blood through faith. This
was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He
passed over the sins (of mankind) previously
committed; (Romans 3:23-25, 5:10)
God
is pouring out His Divine Grace onto the human race through the
gospel message of the cross. In Christ
Jesus: we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us. (Romans
5:5; Ephesians 1:7-8; 1 Timothy 1:14).
Scripture
refers to God’s grace as a gift because it’s given to Believers
although they don’t deserve it. If it
could be earned or worked for then it wouldn’t be grace anymore: For by
grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (Ephesians
2:8).
Keeping
in mind Paul’s warning, let’s seriously consider what the Gentiles have done
with God’s grace to date. The
majority has rejected God, His grace, and His Truths outright and because of
this there has been an ensuing steady, if not rapid, moral decline world-wide. When I taught Romans chapter 2, I made this
comment: the further man sinks into
depravity the further man is distanced from the Creator God.
I
went on to outline 3 things our Apostle Paul said occurred when men and women
have completely turned their backs on God:
they are aware the things they are
doing are wrong, they elect to do them anyway, and they give hearty approval to those who willfully join them. (Romans
1:32)
Over
my lifetime I’ve witnessed America’s moral decline and I’ve experienced America’s
turning away from God as well; it is more than just noticeable it’s
alarming. For instance I remember my
mother telling me about the problem the Motion Picture Association had with the
movie “Gone with the Wind” and all because of one “bad” word. The word causing all the ruckus was “damn.” However, the director paid the $5,000 fine,
the movie was released, and the rest is history. Some people chose not to view the movie. They said this “bad” word made it immoral.
That was 1930.
In
2013 director Martin Scorsese released a film called, “The Wolf of Wall
Street.” This movie has set a new
Guinness World Records title for most swearing in a single film. The
same f-word expletive is used 506 times – averaging 2.81 times per minute. But that’s not all. The heavy use of profanity, drug usage, and
sexually explicit scenes has caused distribution problems in many foreign
countries – but not in America. Here it
grossed millions and was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best
Picture.
In
2 Chronicles 33:1-25 we find a king named Hezekiah, a God-fearing king, who brought about reformation among the
Israelites. His son, Manasseh, however,
was an evil ruler. He had watched his
father walk with God and live according to Scripture. Yet he chose to ignore the LORD God. (Psalms 119:105).
Manasseh
worshipped false gods, even to the point of sacrificing his sons by fire in
order to praise Molech. He practiced
much evil including witchcraft and sorcery.
He led Israel astray, thereby provoking the LORD God to anger. This king and his people paid a high price
for his rebellion.
This
Bible account serves to illustrate God’s intolerance of a nation’s disregard
toward Him. Now, please consider the
United States of America. Have we, too,
as a nation not pushed God aside? Hasn’t
America turned away from the one true God and embraced multiple idols. These idols may or may not be of wood or
stone, but we have certainly created idols of money, sports, ability, beauty, fame,
fortune, science, philosophy, and reputation to name but a few.
America
was founded on Biblical principles with the intent to guarantee the
freedoms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The freedom to worship is a constitutionally protected
right provided in the religion clauses of the First Amendment. But over time we have seen the Supreme Court
of the Unites States “whittle” away at these rights by ruling the Ten
Commandments could not be displayed in court buildings or on government
property unless it is in an historical context…, we have witnessed the name of
Jesus Christ being removed from public speaking, prayer, and other aspects of
public life. Most recently a United
States Navy Chaplain was ordered not to “Pray in the name of Jesus Christ” by
his superior officer – April 22, 2015. On
June 19, 2000 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled School Sponsored
Prayer is unconstitutional.
This
country, once a “Nation under God,” has turned into a country that tolerates an
alarming number of mounting sins i.e. abortion, teen-age sex, underage drinking, and drug abuse, etc. and belittles or ignores absolute truth.
For
the past 2,000 years the human race has been experiencing God’ tender heart
i.e. His grace, love, and His mercy. But
one should not misinterpret God’s kindness
as weakness. There’s a flip-side to
God’s love and Scripture proves this Truth out again and again - God is holy,
righteousness, and good; but He’s capable of wrath. The word “wrath”
appears 189 times in Scripture and is used more often than the word “grace.”
This
Biblical fact is speaking to the Gentiles who have no fear of God, who are arrogant
and self-centered, and have spurned God’s kindness. To the Gentiles who say, if there
is a God, He would never send anyone to hell. I respond, if God wasn’t capable of “wrath,”
ask yourself this question, would there be a need for His grace?
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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