Bible Verses Questioned(On Going Project)

The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 1 King 3:4

Deuteronomy 12:13-14 said that the Israelites could make sacrifices only in specified places, 2King 18:22. It was to prevent the people from instituting their own methods of worship and allowing heathen practices to creep into their worship(2King 17:9,11, 23:5, 2Chronicles 20:33,28:25). But many Israelites, including Solomon, made sacrifices in the surrounding hills, high places. Doing so took the offerings out of the watchful care of priests and ministers loyal to the Lord and opened the way of false teaching to be tied to these sacrifices.

You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you.1King 13:1-32

The old man's intention is not clear...maybe he found the man of God respectable when he himself was not doing his homework to announce God's judgement against Jeroboam. His method to convince the man of God was evil(v.18). It is confirmed by the fact that later he is called the prophet that came out of Samaria(2Ki.23:18), whereas there was no such place as Samaria till long after 1Ki.16:24. Though he was of Beth-el, it seems that he is so called there, because he was like those who were afterwards the prophets of Samaria, who caused God's people Israel to err(Jer. 23:13).

It should be noted that it is easier to be defrauded by false prophets than any other. As for the man of God, there was no ground that the word of the Lord had been changed. It is interesting to see that the message of judgement came from the old prophet. Note that there was no implication of repents by either of them.

A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. Matt.2:18

Ramah, neighboring Mizpah, was one of those cities which were allotted by Joshua to the tribe of Benjamin on the frontier of this canton, and that of Ephraim. The word signifies an eminence. Sometimes it is put simply for a high place, and then signifies neither a city nor a village. Also the birthplace of Samuel.

The prophecy of this voice of lamentation in Ramah found its initiatory accomplishment when the overthrow of the twelve tribes was consummated by Assyria. Then captives of Judah's kingdom were gathered together in Ramah, and with them Jeremiah the prophet, at the disposal of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard(Jeremiah 40:1).

Rachel, mother of Joseph and Benjamin, is the symbolic mother of the northern tribes, who were taken away by the Assyrians as slaves. She was buried on the way to Bethelehem(Gen. 35:19). Rachel is pictured crying for the exiles of her sons at Ramah, which is also a staging point of deportation of people of Judah.

No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. Matthew 9:17

Being identified with new wine and new wineskins, Jesus puts it clear that the gospel by Him did not fit into the old system of religion of Judaism with its rules and traditions. He did not come to "patch it up". His radically new teaching cannot be squeezed into the mold of the old legalism. It must find new forms of expression-or else the old will be destroyed and the new spoilt. Luke 5:39 is a perceptive comment on human nature-the conservatism which mistrusts anything new.

As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: "`I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. Matthew 11:2-15

The reason for John's question might be threefold: (1) For his own confirmation. cf. Gen 15:6,8 (2) Doubt from his own present circumstances. Being a friend and forerunner of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, why am I left in prison with such a neglect from Him? (3) For his disciples' instruction and confirmation. v.6

As John's disciples were leaving(as they departed, KJV), our Lord spoke honorably of John. John was a firm, resolute man, and not a reed swayed by the wind; you have been so in your thoughts of him, but he was not so. Also he was a self-denying man, and mortified to this world, v.8. Being more than a prophet and Christ's forerunner, he was great in the sight of the Lord(Luke 1:15). No man ever fulfilled his God-given purpose better than John. He was a maximum quod sic--the greatest of his order; yet minimum maximi est majus maximo minimi--the least of the highest order is superior to the first of the lowest. A dwarf upon a mountain sees further than a giant in the valley. In the same way, the least in the kingdom of heaven/glory/grace is greater than John.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?Luke 12:25

Different versions says:

And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? -KJV
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life(Or single cubit to his height)? -NIV
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour(cubit) to his life's span(height)? -NASB
And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? -RSV
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life(Or add a cubit to your stature)? -NRSV

"Stature" in Greek is helikian (or helika in original form) means maturity, age(Luke 2:52, Hebrew 11:11), time of life(John 9:21,23, Eph 4:13), and height(Luke 2:52). Thus adding one cubic(in any translation, it is the right vocabulary) to stature or age means the corresponding things(i.e., adding height or adding life).

...if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 2Peter 2:6-9

Is Lot a righteous(just, KJV) man? Here "righteous" stands as opposite to áthesmoi, meaning without an acceptable standard, which is laid down and established, an ordinance. His suffering from distress and torment described here revealed his "righteous"ness. Lot was not sinless, but it is evident that he put his trust in God and was spared when Sodom was destroyed Gen.19:14,19. A question arises: is he acceptable to God (so that he may be called godly and saved)? God does not account men just or unjust from one single act, but from their general course of life. And here is a just man in the midst of a most corrupt and profligate generation universally gone off from all good. He does not follow the multitude to do evil, but in a city of injustice he walks uprightly. But it was surely not a good decision to stay in Sodom while you could live in a tent like Abraham away from the city Gen 18:3, seeing the tragic conclusion of his family. They became blind by the bad influence of the city.

Ruth, a descendant of Moab, was an ancestor of Jesus, even though Moab was born as a result of Lot's incestuous relationship with one of his daughters. The consequence of their sin-Moab and Ammon became enemies of Isarel-was perhaps God's way of judging them. Still Ruth's story gives hope to us that God forgives and often brings about bright circumstances from evil.


It should be clarified that any material written here is not an official opinion of any group or of any affiliation I belong to. Rather it is written solely for author's benefits. If you have anything against these writings, please let me know at seungsu@writeme.com. 1