Tag: phulasso

Luke 2:8 – Celebrating Whom?

Posted on by Will

And shepherds were in the same region spending the night in the field and keeping the night watch over their flock.

Truth to Learn

Christmas was first announced to those who were banned from the accepted religious observances.

Behind the Words

“Shepherds” is translated from poimēn, which refers to “someone who watches over to protect and provide for a flock or herd of animals.”

The word “region” is from chōra which is based on choros, meaning “a place where cattle range and feed.” By extension, Chōra is used to refer to a region, a country, or a land.

“Spending the night in the field” is the translation of the Greek verb agrauleō, which is made up of agros, referring to “the country” as opposed to “the city” and aulidzomai, which means “to spend the night.” Thus, these shepherds were spending the night camped out in the country.

The words “keeping watch” are from the verb phulassō, meaning “to watch over” or “to guard.” The Greek text actually says phulassontes phulakas, meaning “watching watches.” These men were taking turns watching the sheep throughout the various "watches" of the night which were evening, middle of the night, cock crowing, and morning.

Meaning Explained

In Greek, word order is significant, implying importance or emphasis. In the Greek text, this verse starts out with “and shepherds …” because this is an account of what transpired with the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth.

Shepherds spent most of their time out in the fields with their flocks, especially in the spring and summer (these events probably occurred in the springtime). Because of this, they were not able to keep the religious ordinances and ceremonial responsibilities that were required by the religious leaders. As a result, these same religious leaders considered shepherds little better than the heathen Gentiles. They were even banned from entering the Temple. This is particularly ironic since these shepherds were most likely watching the very sheep which were to be used in the temple sacrifices.

Based on the Prophet Micah, the Jews believed that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being little among the clans of Judah,  out of you He shall come forth to Me to become ruler in Israel; and His comings forth have been from of old, from the days of antiquity. (Micah 5:2)

Near Bethlehem, on the road to Jerusalem, there was a watchtower called Migdal Eder, meaning “watchtower of the flock.” This is where shepherds watched over the animals destined for sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem. It was a commonly held belief among the Jews that their Messiah would be revealed from Migdal Eder, because the prophet Micah also said:

And you, O tower of the flock [Migdol Eder], the hill of the daughter of Zion, it shall happen to you… (Micah 4:8 a).

These shepherds, responsible for guarding the sacrificial lambs and who were banned from the Temple, are likely the very ones to whom the Sacrificial Lamb of God was announced by God’s angelic messengers.

Application

Isn’t it amazing. Even though the Jews believed that their Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and that he would be revealed at Migdal Eder, they completely missed His birth? They were likely too busy living their lives and following their "religious" observances to be bothered with looking for their Messiah! How about you? Are you so busy “celebrating” His birth with presents that you completely miss the presence of the One for whom the celebration is intended? Are you busy decorating, shopping, wrapping, cooking, and otherwise preparing for Christmas Day, or are you reading, studying, praying, and humbling yourself before the God-child who was born on this day so that He could die to pay for your sins.

This year, instead of celebrating Christmas, let's celebrate the Christ Child! 

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

2 Peter 3:17 – Be On Guard

Posted on by Will

Then, beloved ones, knowing this beforehand, guard yourselves lest being led astray by the error of lawless men you fall from your own steadfastness.

Truth to Learn

Based on what Peter has just taught us, we must be wary of false teachers who would cause us to stumble.

 

Behind the Words

“Knowing … beforehand” is translated from proginōskō, which is made up of pro, meaning “before, in time or place” and ginōskō, which means “to know absolutely or completely.” The word is expressed here as a present participle.

The word translated “guard yourselves” is the Greek word phulassō, which means “protect yourself, be on guard, or be aware of.” It is expressed here in the imperative mood, indicating a command and it is expressed in the middle voice, indicating something that you do to yourself.

“Steadfastness” is from stērigmos, which is derived from stēridzō, meaning “to set firmly in place.” So we see, stērigmos refers to “a position of stability.”

 

Meaning Explained

Therefore, that is, because there will be scoffers and false prophets who deny the truth of the Word and who deny that Christ is returning again and who don’t believe that there was a flood or that there will be a fiery judgment… knowing beforehand that Christ will return and there will be a judgment of this world and its inhabitants, be on your guard!

Peter is commanding us to be on our guard and to protect ourselves from the teachings of the scoffers and false teachers. Otherwise, he says, we may be led astray by their erroneous teaching. Remember we learned earlier that they will use a symphony of words to entice us into their false teaching.

How can we protect ourselves from false teaching? I learned years ago that people who are trained to detect counterfeit money do not spend their time studying various forgeries and counterfeits. Instead, they study the real thing over and over again in excruciating detail so that they can spot a fake, being different from the real thing. In the same way, we need to constantly be studying the Word of God over and over so that we will be able to spot false teaching. It is not sufficient to simply hear a sermon once a week and spend a few minutes reading our Bibles. We need to be studying the Word constantly!

Peter then tells us that if we do get led astray, we may fall from our “secure position.” Peter is not saying that we will fall from salvation. As we’ve shown before, we cannot lose our salvation. What we can lose, however, is our firm footing, our position of spiritual stability, and we can stumble and fall into sin if we get led astray by false teaching.

 

Application

We now know that Christ is coming again (it could even be today). And, we know He is coming as the Judge who will perform a trial by fire. We also now know that there are many false teachers who would draw us away from our firm footing. Therefore, beware and lift your eyes, for your redemption draws near!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

2 Thessalonians 3:3 – Walking Faith

Posted on by Will

But the Lord is faithful, and He will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

Truth to Learn

Walking by faith means trusting that God will establish and guard you both now and in the future.

 

Behind the Words

The word translated “faithful” is pistos, which is based on peithō, meaning “to win over” or “to persuade.” In common usage it refers to someone who is worth believing, that is, someone who does what he or she says they will do. In Greek, word order is significant, with emphasis being given to the word or words expressed first. In this verse, the word order is “Faithful is the Lord,” thus emphasizing God’s faithfulness.

“Establish” is from the Greek verb stēridzō, which is based on the noun histēmi, meaning “to stand.” Stēridzō means “to set firmly in place.” It is expressed here in the future tense, indicating action that God is going to do.

The word “guard” is translated from phulassō, which means “to keep watch over” or “to protect from harm.”

Ponēros is the word translated “evil one.” In the previous verse it was translated “wicked.” It refers to “evil in a moral or spiritual sense.” In this verse it is preceded by the definite article the, indicating a specific evil person.

 

Meaning Explained

As we mentioned above, Paul starts off this verse with “faithful,” which is the word pistos. What’s particularly interesting about this is that he ended the previous verse with “faith,” from the word pistis. Apparently, Paul is making a play on words here, saying “Not all men have faith in the Lord, but faithfulness is a characteristic of God.”

He is also using a play on words to make a point regarding how God will take care of us. He does this through his use of the verb stēridzō. A few verses back, in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, Paul gave a command to “stand fast and keep a firm hold on the things you have been taught.” The command form (imperative mood) of the verb implies it is something that is not happening, but it needs to happen. Then, in his prayer for them, Paul asks that God “may … establish you in every good word and work.” The use of stēridzō is that verse (2 Thessalonians 2:17) is in the optative mood, indicating that it may not be happening currently, but that it probably would. Now, in the current verse, Paul says that “the Lord will establish you and guard you.” This is expressed in the indicative mood, as something that definitely will happen because the Lord is faithful.

Not only will God make our stand firm, He will also protect us from the evil one. There is some disagreement among Biblical scholars as to whether Paul is talking about Satan (as Jesus was in His prayer for His disciples in Matthew 6:13), or to one of the “unreasonable and wicked men” that he referred to in the previous verse. Whatever position you take on this issue, the point is that God is faithful; He always does what He says He will do, and Paul says that He will establish and guard His children.

 

Application

Just because we’re saved through “faith” in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, doesn’t mean that we have “faith” in God’s protection and care for us. Saving faith is a one-time thing; walking faith is a lifelong thing. Are you currently walking by faith daily, trusting God to establish and guard you?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2016 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Luke 2:8 – Celebrating Whom?

Posted on by Will

As has been our tradition for the past several years, for the week preceeding Christmas, we will pause our verse studies in the current book to focus on a few Christmas verses. We will return to our verse studies after the first of the year.

 

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Truth to Learn

Christmas was first announced to those who were banned from the accepted religious observances.

Behind the Words

“Shepherds” is translated from poimēn, which refers to “someone who watches over to protect and provide for a flock or herd of animals.”

The word “country” is from chōra which is based on choros, meaning “a place where cattle range and feed.” By extension, Chōra is used to refer to a region, a country, or a land.

“Living out in” is the translation of the Greek verb agrauleō, which is made up of agros, referring to “the country” as opposed to “the city” and aulidzomai, which means “to spend the night.” Thus, these shepherds were spending the night camped out in the country.

The words “keeping watch” are from the verb phulassō, meaning “to watch over” or “to guard.” The Greek text actually says phulassontes phulakas, meaning “watching watches.” These men were taking turns watching the sheep throughout the various "watches" of the night which were evening, middle of the night, cock crowing, and morning.

Meaning Explained

In Greek, word order is significant, implying importance or emphasis. In the Greek text, this verse starts out with “and shepherds …” because this is an account of what transpired with the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth.

Shepherds spent most of their time out in the fields with their flocks, especially in the spring and summer (these events probably occurred in the springtime). Because of this, they were not able to keep the religious ordinances and ceremonial responsibilities that were required by the religious leaders. As a result, these same religious leaders considered shepherds little better than the heathen Gentiles. They were even banned from entering the Temple. This is particularly ironic since these shepherds were most likely watching the very sheep which were to be used in the temple sacrifices.

Based on the Prophet Micah, the Jews believed that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting. (Micah 5:2)

Near Bethlehem, on the road to Jerusalem, there was a watchtower called Migdal Eder, meaning “watchtower of the flock.” This is where shepherds watched over the animals destined for sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem. It was a commonly held belief among the Jews that their Messiah would be revealed from Migdal Eder. And the prophet Micah said:

And you, O tower of the flock [Migdol Eder], the hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it shall happen … (Micah 4:8 a).

These shepherds, responsible for guarding the sacrificial lambs and who were banned from the Temple, are likely the very ones to whom the Sacrificial Lamb of God was announced by God’s angelic messengers.

Application

Isn’t it amazing. Even though the Jews believed that their Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and that he would be revealed at Migdal Eder, they completely missed His birth? They were likely too busy living their lives and following their "religious" observances to be bothered with looking for their Messiah! How about you? Are you so busy “celebrating” His birth with presents that you completely miss the presence of the One for whom the celebration is intended? Are you busy decorating, shopping, wrapping, cooking, and otherwise preparing for Christmas Day, or are you reading, studying, praying, and humbling yourself before the God-child who was born on this day so that He could die to pay for your sins.

This year, instead of celebrating Christmas, let's celebrate the Christ Child! 

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2015 Will Krause. All rights reserved

2 Thessalonians 3:3 – Walking Faith

Posted on by Will

But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.

Truth to Learn

Walking by faith means trusting that God will establish and guard you both now and in the future.

Behind the Words

The word translated “faithful” is pistos, which is based on peithō, meaning “to win over” or “to persuade.” In common usage it refers to someone who is worth believing, that is, someone who does what he or she says they will do. In Greek, word order is significant, with emphasis being given to the word or words expressed first. In this verse, the word order is “Faithful is the Lord,” which emphasizes God’s faithfulness.

“Establish” is from the Greek verb stēridzō, which is based on the noun histēmi, meaning “to stand.” Stēridzō means “to set firmly in place.” It is expressed here in the future tense, indicating action that God is going to do.

The word “guard” is translated from phulassō, which means “to keep watch over” or “to protect from harm.”

Ponēros is the word translated “evil one.” In the previous verse it was translated “wicked.” It refers to “evil in a moral or spiritual sense.” In this verse it is preceded by the definite article the, indicating a specific evil person.

Meaning Explained

As we mentioned above, Paul starts off this verse with “faithful,” which is the word pistos. What’s particularly interesting about this is that he ended the previous verse with “faith,” from the word pistis. Apparently, Paul is making a play on words here, saying “Not all men have faith in the Lord, but faithfulness is a characteristic of God.”

He is also using a play on words to make a point regarding how God will take care of us. He does this through his use of the verb stēridzō. A few verses back, in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, Paul gave a command to “stand fast and keep a firm hold on the things you have been taught.” The command form (imperative mood) of the verb implies it is something that is not happening, but it needs to happen. Then, in his prayer for them, Paul asks that God “may … establish you in every good word and work.” The use of stēridzō is that verse (2 Thessalonians 2:17) is in the optative mood, indicating that it may not be happening currently, but that it probably would. Now, in the current verse, Paul says that “the Lord will establish you and guard you.” This is expressed in the indicative mood, as something that definitely will happen because the Lord is faithful.

Not only will God make our stand firm, He will also protect us from the evil one. There is some disagreement among Biblical scholars as to whether Paul is talking about Satan (as Jesus was in His prayer for His disciples in Matthew 6:13), or to one of the “unreasonable and wicked men” that he referred to in the previous verse. Whatever position you take on this issue, the point is that God is faithful; He always does what He says He will do, and Paul says that He will establish and guard His children.

Application

Just because we’re saved through “faith” in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, doesn’t mean that we have “faith” in God’s protection and care for us. Saving faith is a one-time thing; walking faith is a lifelong thing. Are you currently walking by faith daily, trusting God to establish and guard you?

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved

 

 

 

Luke 2:8 – Celebrating Whom?

Posted on by Will

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Truth to Learn

Christmas was first announced to those who were banned.

Behind the Words

“Shepherds” is translated from poimēn, which refers to “someone who watches over to protect and provide for a flock or herd of animals.”

The word “country” is from chōra which is based on choros, meaning “a place where cattle range and feed.” Chōra, then, is used to refer to a region, a country, or a land.

“Living out in” is the translation of the Greek verb agrauleō, which is made up of agros, which refers to “the country” as opposed to “the city” and aulidzomai, which means “to spend the night.” Thus, these shepherds were spending the night camped out in the country.

The words “keeping watch” are from the verb phulassō, meaning “to watch over” or “to guard.” The Greek text actually says phulassontes phulakas, meaning “watching watches.”

Meaning Explained

In Greek, word order is significant, implying importance or emphasis. In the Greek text, this verse starts out with “and shepherds …” because this is an account of what transpired with the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth.

Shepherds spent most of their time out in the fields with their flocks, especially in the spring and summer (these events probably occurred in the springtime). Because of this, they were not able to keep the religious ordinances and ceremonial responsibilities that were required by the religious leaders. As a result, these same religious leaders considered shepherds little better than the heathen Gentiles. They were even banned from entering the Temple. This is particularly ironic since these shepherds were most likely watching the very sheep which were to be used in the temple sacrifices.

Based on the Prophet Micah, the Jews believed that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting. (Micah 5:2)

Near Bethlehem, on the road to Jerusalem, there was a watchtower called Migdal Eder, meaning “watchtower of the flock.” This is where shepherds watched over the animals destined for sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem. It was a commonly held belief among the Jews that their Messiah would be revealed from Migdal Eder.

These shepherds, responsible for guarding the sacrificial lambs and who were banned from the Temple itself, are likely the very ones to whom the Sacrificial Lamb of God was announced by God’s angelic messengers.

Application

Isn’t it amazing. Even though the Jews believed that their Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and that he would be revealed at Migdal Eder, they completely missed His birth? They were probably too busy living their lives! How about you? Are you so busy “celebrating” His birth with presents that you completely miss the presence of the One for whom the celebration is intended?

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2011 Will Krause. All rights reserved.