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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, July 22, 2022
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Jesus exposes the ignorance of the Sadducees Bible Verse:Matthew 22:23-33 (J.B. Phillips NT) "On the same day some Sadducees (who deny that there is any resurrection) approached Jesus with this question: “Master, Moses said if a man should die without any children, his brother should marry his widow and raise up a family for him. Now, we have a case of seven brothers. The first one married and died, and since he had no family he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened with the second and the third, right up to the seventh. Last of all the woman herself died. Now in this ‘resurrection’, whose wife will she be of these seven men—for she belonged to all of them?” “You are very wide of the mark,” replied Jesus to them, “for you are ignorant of both the scriptures and the power of God. For in the resurrection there is no such thing as marrying or being given in marriage — men live like the angels in Heaven. And as for the matter of the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you ever read what was once said to you by God himself, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? God is not God of the dead but of living men!” When the crowds heard this they were astounded at his teaching." Message:
This passage, unfortunately, makes little sense without understanding some background material.
Christ resurrected
The Pharisees believed in resurrection of the body. They thought that good Jews would rise again exactly as they died. If you had a wart on your nose when you died, it would be there when you arose. Scribes had long discussions on matters such as whether or not you would be wearing the same clothes. Because they believed that the resurrection would occur in the Holy Land, they developed a theory that there were great tunnels under the earth, and that Jews who died in say, Egypt, would roll through the tunnels until they came to rest under Palestine.
So — the Sadducees’ question was not as foolish as it sounded; it exposed a gaping hole in the Pharisees’ beliefs. The mistake was assuming Jesus shared the Pharisees’ beliefs.
The first part of Jesus’ answer clears up the Sadducees’ mistaken assumption. Marriage is a union of the flesh. (E.g. Ephesians 5:31.) It will not exist after we are resurrected, because God will give us a different form. (Note: We do not fear about not being reunited with a spouse or other family member in heaven. We will be able to know them and love them with a pure and powerful love that is only foreshadowed by an earthly marriage.)
As to the second issue, whether resurrection will occur at all, the Sadducees did not recognize any Scripture except the Pentateuch. So the Pharisees had spent centuries trying to convince them of the resurrection through the most inane citations to the Pentateuch one could image. They were legalists and apt to argue tiny points to the point of infinity, much like Medieval Christian theologians arguing about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin.
Abraham, by Joseph Schonmann, mosaic in Vienna +
Abraham
But Jesus treats these arguments the way Alexander the Great treated the Gordian Knot. He just obliterates it with one swipe of the “sword” of his tongue. First he cites Scripture they recognize and believe, the words God spoke to Moses from the burning bush: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:5-6)
These patriarchs were long dead at the time God spoke to Moses. So, Jesus tells them, God would not say that he “is” the God of a dead man. If people simple ceased to exist at death, God would have used different words.
In other words, when God told Moses “I am the God of Abraham,” He used Hebrew words that indicated Abraham was alive. How could this be true unless death was followed by resurrection? For Abraham had surely died.
Meditation : Prayer : The blessing of the Lord rest and remain upon all his people, in every land, of every tongue; the Lord meet in mercy all that seek him; the Lord comfort all who suffer and mourn; the Lord hasten his coming, and give us, his people, the blessing of peace, this day and always........Amen |
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