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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. Saturday, November 23, 2024
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Paul and Silas In Berea Bible Verse:Acts 17:10-15 (ESV) "The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. " Message:
To recap previous events, in central Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), Paul picked added Timothy to his retinue. They outraged the Jewish establishment and had to move on, but bypassed what was then called “Asia” (western Turkey today) and sailed all the way to Macedonia.
As happened in central Anatolia, Paul’s teachings have outraged the Jewish establishment in the town of Thessalonica, in Macedonia. Paul’s religion is not even a proper Jewish sect: it includes Gentiles. The converted Jews worship and consort openly with non-Jewish Gentiles. This would have been doubly inflammatory, like a social club in the Jim Crow era that included both whites and blacks.
Paul is now hunted. Mobs take to the road to find and kill him.
A page of Exodus, from an illuminated Tanakh.
A page of Exodus,
from an illuminated Tanakh
(Hebrew Bible).
For unknown reasons, the tiny Jewish community in Berea accepts the missionaries. The reaction of the Berean Jews is to study the Scripture in order to verify (or disprove) what Paul has preached. Rather than accepting a new religion or rejecting it out of hand, they try to learn the facts and understand the arguments before making a decision.
But the Jews of Berea are an exception; most of those involved in the struggle for Christianity—occurring all the way from the Egyptian border to Athens—have become set in their beliefs and have joined one of four camps, with political and social effect (as well as religious). Foremost is a Jewish splinter sect who believe that Christ is their Messiah. Peter is their leader, and Paul their primary point man in the field.
Second is a group of monotheistic Gentiles. They have been attracted to the personal relationship with the One God that Judaism teaches, and they seem to adopt Christ more easily than the actual Jews. Their full acceptance by the Christian Jews has begun to change Christianity from essentially a Jewish sect into a completely new religion.
Ranged against them is the traditional Jewish establishment, which openly wants them arrested, and if possible executed, for heresy. They are joined by a few Gentiles whom Paul has managed to irritate (because of their commercial, rather than religious, concerns).
The most powerful political force in the world, however—Rome itself—is apathetic. Rome has hardly even noticed the new religion except to expel all the Jews from Rome when they caused problems.
In the next section of Acts, Christianity will take a huge step forward. Paul will begin to proselytize the Gentiles directly . . . by telling them the Greco-Roman gods are false!
Meditation : Prayer : God of love, Father of all, the darkness that covered the earth has given way to the bright dawn of your Word made flesh. Make me and all who confess your holy name people of this light. Make me faithful to your Word that I may bring your life to the waiting world. Grant this through Christ our Lord. ........Amen |
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