...additionally,
"By so much also, Jesus has become [perfect tense] the surety of a better covenant." Hebrews 7:22
"By so much also, Jesus has become [perfect tense] the surety of a better covenant." Hebrews 7:22
The Bookends
- Thread starter Grace911
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Please pay attention to the structure of the sentence in this passage:
Acts 7:37-40 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet(Jesus) shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me(Moses); him(Jesus) shall ye hear. (38) This is he(Jesus), that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him(Moses) in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles(Jesus~Word of God) to give unto us: (39) To whom(Jesus) our fathers would not obey, but thrust him(Jesus~Word of God~lively oracles) from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, (40) Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Steven was quoting Deuteronomy 18 where Moses was speaking of Jesus:
Deuteronomy 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
^ Of course Moses said that. And what he "said" ended there. Then it picks up again (after Stephen's quoting "what Moses SAID" [ending at the phrase "him shall ye hear."]) to going back to speak of that Moses (the one back then who said that to them). [see also Acts 3:22]
"This is he" goes along with "This is that Moses" of the preceding verse, and the "This Moses" of verse 35 (a cpl of verses b/f that), and the "this Moses" of verse 40 (a cpl of verses after that). All the same guy.
"This is he" goes along with "This is that Moses" of the preceding verse, and the "This Moses" of verse 35 (a cpl of verses b/f that), and the "this Moses" of verse 40 (a cpl of verses after that). All the same guy.
When you listen to a bible teacher are you there to obey him or obey the lively oracles he hopes to deliver???
The more I converse with souls in these forums the more I realize the lack of understanding as it pertains to this passage:
2 Corinthians 3:2-18 Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men; (3) being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh. (4) And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: (5) not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; (6) who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. (7) But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was passing away: (8) how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory? (9) For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. (10) For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth. (11) For if that which passeth away was with glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory. (12) Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, (13) and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away: (14) but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ. (15) But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart. (16) But whensoever it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (17) Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
Again, Galatians 3:19 [nasb] -
"Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made."
EDIT TO ADD: perhaps this quote by Gaebelein clarifies better than I (and I do need to run, for now):
"And the law was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. “Now, a mediator is not of one; but God is one.” Angels in glory were present at Sinai (Psalm 68:17); God did not reveal Himself in His glory and a mediator was needed, that is, Moses. The statement “a mediator is not of one” means that mediatorship necessitates two parties. So there were God and Israel, Moses between as the mediator. But in the promise, the covenant made with Abraham and his seed, God was the only One who spoke. Its fulfillment is not (as in the law-covenant) dependent upon a faithful God and Israel’s obedience, but on God’s faithfulness alone; all depended upon God Himself. The mediatorship of the Lord Jesus Christ is a different thing and not in view here at all."
"Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made."
EDIT TO ADD: perhaps this quote by Gaebelein clarifies better than I (and I do need to run, for now):
"And the law was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. “Now, a mediator is not of one; but God is one.” Angels in glory were present at Sinai (Psalm 68:17); God did not reveal Himself in His glory and a mediator was needed, that is, Moses. The statement “a mediator is not of one” means that mediatorship necessitates two parties. So there were God and Israel, Moses between as the mediator. But in the promise, the covenant made with Abraham and his seed, God was the only One who spoke. Its fulfillment is not (as in the law-covenant) dependent upon a faithful God and Israel’s obedience, but on God’s faithfulness alone; all depended upon God Himself. The mediatorship of the Lord Jesus Christ is a different thing and not in view here at all."
Ok lets examine a little more context to see if you can grasp the truth that the voice of the Lord in verse 31 and 33 is the HE in verse 38 that spake to Moses in the Mount Sinai:
Acts 7:30-39 And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. (31) And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord, (32) I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold. (33) And the Lord said unto him, Loose the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (34) I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them: and now come, I will send thee into Egypt. (35) This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? him hath God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush. (36) This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. (37) This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me. (38) This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel that spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received living oracles to give unto us: (39) to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in their hearts unto Egypt,
It seems to me that you are reading verse 38 apart from [grasping] verse 35 and what is stated there ^.
You seem to have forgotten that it was Christ who broke up the 70 weeks of Daniel in His Olivet Discourse (which was shortly before His crucifixion).
And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. (Dan 11:31)
And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Dan 9:27)
In that Discourse, He not only predicted the destruction of the existing temple in 70 AD (40 years after), but He also prophesied of a future temple in which the Abomination of Desolation would stand in the Holy Place, thus going back to Daniel's prophecy of 70 weeks. And this ties in with the 70th week of Daniel as shown above.
The only way that this prophecy would then be fulfilled is if the Abomination was set up in the future. And when we tie together the prophecies regarding "the little horn" and the "prince that shall come" with the Man of Sin and the Beast of Revelation (the Antichrist) if becomes very clear that all of this pertains to the future.
Dan 9:27 is a prophecy abouy Jesus and Dan 11:27 is a prophecy about the Romans, the true abomination, that destroyed the temple. For 100s of years Daniel was interpreted like this (do you have the Bible Hub app on your phone? Check out the classic interpretations of controversial verses by renowned scholars, you may be surprised like I was). but during and after the insquition the Catholic Church influenced public interpretation of the abomination in Dan. But there is no reason to fragment the 70 weeks; it reads well together in hindsight knowing history.
There may or may not be another building the Jews will call a temple but the 3rd temple is already here, see John 2:18-21. There is little preventing the beast and false prophet from rising; Satan must first be ‘cast down’ and be ‘wroth’ (Rev 12).
No I am not having any trouble grasping what Steven said in verse 35 anymore than the fact that Steven's whole point in chapter 7 was to point out that the Jews killed the Lord who was the Word made flesh that Steven kept eluding to throughout Acts chapter 7:
Acts 7:31-33 And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord, (32) I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold. (33) And the Lord said unto him, Loose the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Acts 7:37-38 This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me. (38) This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel that spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received living oracles to give unto us:
Acts 7:44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he appointed who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen.
Acts 7:52 Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers;
The whole chpt is about how Israel persecuted the prophets (Moses being one of them); and now they (at the time of Stephen) had persecuted and killed THE Prophet [raised up unto you of your brethren] sent unto them (Jesus; Acts 3:22,13,26--"His Servant Jesus") to speak unto them. ("whom ye slew" Acts 5:30)
The angel "appeared" but it is very obvious that it was the Lord who spake to Moses in mount Sinai:
Acts 7:30-39 And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. (31) And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord, (32) I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold. (33) And the Lord said unto him, Loose the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. (34) I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them: and now come, I will send thee into Egypt. (35) This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? him hath God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush. (36) This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years. (37) This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me. (38) This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel, that spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received living oracles to give unto us: (39) to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in their hearts unto Egypt,