Hope Sabbath School Lesson 12 Dealing With Difficult Passages

[Music] [Applause] [Applause] welcome to Hope Sabbath school an in-depth interactive study of the word of God we're coming to the close of an amazing series on how to interpret the Bible it's been such a blessing if you've missed any in this series go to our website Hope TV org slash hope SS you can watch the entire series today how to deal with difficult passages of Scripture have you found some if you haven't we'll share some with you today but we know much of Scripture is very simple and clear to understand but sometimes it can be challenging we'll learn some strategies today that will help us so welcome to hope Sabbath school and welcome to the team have you learned some important things in this series I know that I have it's been a great blessing what I've learned more than anything is to keep Jesus at the center a focal point of all Scripture we're always happy to hear from you our hopes have a school family here's a note from Dexter in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines know he calls that the luxury island so we don't like to come visit you Dexter he says hello saints of God you saying please invite me I love to watch hope Sabbath school indeed it is a blessing for me out there in an island in the Caribbean someone's part of our hopes have a school family amen Dexter thanks for writing to us here's one from O'Connor in Ethiopia and ochem writes it says I just wanted to write a quick note to let you know how much I appreciate everything you do through home Sabbath school your discussions are always thoughtful and well delivered and it really lets me feel like I'm special to you I'm wishing to be among you well you know the amazing thing is that you can when I ask a question you can raise your hand you can make a comment you can send us an email at SS hope at hope TV org we'd love to hear from you as we interact together you know Bible study shouldn't be a monologue should it it should be a dialogue we interact with each other so okay and all the way from Ethiopia thanks for writing to us here's a note from Lyndon in Canada anyone from Canada anyone oh that's right addison wave to Lyndon in Canada would you do that alright greetings to the team in depth interacted Bible study team hope Sabbath school all praise and glory be to the Most High God I started watching hope Sabbath school several years ago and today my simple testimony is that my life has been changed I love that imperceptibly and slowly at first but now looking back I'm not the same person I was before somebody say man that's like awesome isn't it this change has also positively impacted my family parenthesis tears in my eyes as I write this I just want to use my favorite Hebrew word I praise God for the Ministry of Hope Sabbath school the reading of the word the testimonies of the team members of what God has done in their lives I'm also humbly grateful for God's recent blessings that have allowed me to give a modest monthly gift to support ho Sabbath school amen I just want to thank our donors all around the world you know God may bless you so that you can bless others right my prayer is that this ministry continues to grow so that someone else might also experience transformation of heart and life and hope for eternity with Jesus amen that's a powerful testimony all the way from Canada Hector writes from the Dominican Republic Oh Gladys does that little dance me that you're from the Dominican Republic all right hello hope sabbath-school family hope Sabbath school is a good program Jesus is coming back soon I asked you to pray for me because I'm passing through a difficult test mm-hmm and at night I can't sleep but I know God is going to be merciful amen please pray for me god bless you fellow family well Hector we want to remember you in our prison you know sometimes we go through difficult times don't we I'm thinking of what David said even when I pass through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil well you're with me right what encouragement that is one last note here from Adrienne in Zimbabwe Adrienne writes it says high hopes Sabbath school family I'm being blessed with your interactive Bible study I'm getting inspiration for my personal Bible study god bless you all from Zimbabwe well we've got hope Sabbath school members in over 200 countries around the world amazing to know how many lives are being changed if your life is being changed we'd love to hear from you you can write to us at SS hope at hope TV org but right now we need you to sing with us our theme song for this series on how to interpret the Bible is a scripture song from Colossians 3:16 let the word of Christ dwell in you let's sing it together [Music] teaching and my [Music] spiritual [Music] and spiritual [Music] dancing everyone say one teaching everyone [Music] amen beautiful song beautiful song father in heaven we thank you that even when we come to difficult passages in the Bible that you have promised that your word will be alight to our feet a lamp to our path that your Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth so today as we continue our series on how to interpret the Bible may your Holy Spirit be our teacher we pray in the name of Jesus amen amen in the same letter where Peter writes to believers and says that prophecy doesn't come of a private interpretation but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit in that same chapter in that same letter Peter has an interesting testimony I'd like us to begin our study there in 2nd Peter chapter 3 beginning with verse 9 and Christian would you begin our study today I'd like to read down through verse 18 and you notice some things about how to interpret the Bible even but also a powerful testimony ok I'll be reading from the New King James Version 2nd Peter chapter 3 beginning with verse 9 the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness but is long-suffering towards us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with the great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up therefore since all these things will be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness looking for in hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent Heat nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells verse 14 therefore beloved looking forward to these things be diligent to be found by him in peace without spot and blameless and consider that the long sufferings of our Lord is salvation as also our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom given to him has written to you as also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the scriptures you therefore beloved since you know this beforehand beware lest you also fall from your own Stephan's steadfastness being led away with the error of the wicked but grow in the Grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be the glory both now and forever amen amen so what encouragement do you see in this inspired testimony by the Apostle Peter anybody lots of things we could share Pedro is coming soon do not lose faith all right so the day of the Lord will come he is coming even though there's an apparent delay in his mercy he doesn't want anybody to be lost what else do you see that's encouraging Andre I see that our God's people know these things beforehand and so we're not like caught out caught off guard okay so we have that more sure word that he talked about that prophetic word that will give us courage as we wait Gary can say even though Peter himself he had issues understanding other writers so I mean he was an apostle he was with Jesus and yet despite all of that he still had a hard time understanding Paul at time and let's focus on that shall we why do you think Peter in this letter by the way he's writing to believers why do you think he openly admits in verse 16 you're referring to that there's some things that our brother Paul has written which are difficult to understand why do you think he admits that Jason well I think he wants to be honest and share look I love the scriptures I love what they've a blessing and particularly Paul's letters but there are some things that Paul says because he deals with a lot of different topics and some of them if you're not careful you can misunderstand them so he's kind of giving a caution here anything okay so an admission that he's challenged at times but also a word of caution what is he also testifying what witness do you hear when he speaks about Paul's writings yes Travis that some are just simply hard I mean yeah but I mean about the writings themselves besides the fact that he finds some difficult their Holy Ghost inspired right Holy Spirit inspired writings because he speaks about the wisdom given to him and as they do the rest of the Scriptures we sells me that even though Paul's still alive the Peter is saying this is also inspired testimony just like the Hebrew writings of the Hebrew prophets Pedro we see to hear that the the background of both both Paul and Peter Peter was a fisherman right oh he his literature was not his best Paul was a was from the Pharisees so he knew a lot of words that Peter might not knew so he was more educated into writing so Paul when he wrote he wrote very eloquently but Peter wrote more simplistically before because of his background and he's probably writing to those who have the same struggles that he had right reading Paul's writings because some of the words might be clear to him says be careful because even though they are not clear there has a meaning don't let other people to interpret in the wrong way to you okay so you know he you're right I mean if it was today he'd say let me look at that word see what it means right yeah he though he had grown a lot by the Holy Spirit he had matured his writing doesn't sound like an illiterate fisherman does it he's guided by the Holy Spirit but he's says some things some of his sentences are a little long you know sure if you read some of whole sentences along it's not simple writing but he recognizes as was pointed out Holy Spirit inspired writings wisdom given by God but some things are not easy to understand Andre yeah there's a whole saying that says knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit but wisdom is knowing not to put it in fruit salad and when you can so when we read that particular verse there about the wisdom given to Paul is maybe that Paul had been in a lot of other situations that maybe Peter had not been in and and in sharing those they're cops complex issues at times and Paul understanding how what to do about it it gave us these writings in that regard so I was gonna ask you what what you think but maybe I should ask you what you think Peter did when he came across something in in a fellow Apostles writings that he went ooh that's difficult to understand what would you think that Peter would do at that time he's not being critical is he he's just being honest what do you think he did what should we do anybody we need to dig deeper okay so he'd say well let me compare what Paul's saying here with other things he said war with the rest of the scripture Gary I was gonna I was gonna say I would out ask them I mean that's right yeah great answer the letter is still alive yeah you can call on your cell phone send a text message yeah right or meet in person it's a great answer if they're still living you could say what exactly did you mean by that right but of course today we're looking at Paul's writings he died almost 2,000 years ago yeah what else Christian you know when he speaks of untaught and unstable people for me what he's implying is that some are untaught because they're not teachable they don't seek to understand so or their untaught some are unstable they don't have a sound mind and that's something that the Holy Spirit gives and so for me that what I get from that is that one has to be willing to be taught and not remain untouched okay and then one has to pray for the Holy Spirit to give understanding and not be unstable as a result so what is he going to do what would we do let's put ourselves in that situation Travis well I was just thinking as he was speaking that we can still go to the author because it's a holy spirit-inspired it's we can still go back to beautiful so so the the source of the wisdom that we talked about is the Holy Spirit not Paul we go to the Holy Spirit and say Holy Spirit jesus promised that you would lead me into this truth yes help me to understand how do I do that how do I go to the Holy Spirit I pray in the name of Jesus if we ask anything according to his will is it is well that we would receive wisdom yes we can come confidently right and we can know that he will guide us well we're gonna continue Paul who apparently wrote some things that were difficult to understand give some counsel to a young pastor named Timothy who well he had much to learn let's put it that way let's look at 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verses 5 through 7 Addison would you read that Timothy was about your age as you hear what counsel is given what encouragement does that bring for you today and I'm reading from the King James Version when I called to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice and I am persuaded that in thee also wherefore I put the remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands for God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind why would Paul say to timothy God has not given us the spirit of fear why would he say that he's young because he's young Timothy's young inexperienced maybe there were times she was afraid right and he's saying that is not a gift from God God has not given you that gift of fear but of sound mind so accept that gift you're gonna face difficult situations you're gonna face difficult scripture that you have to understand let's keep reading in chapter 2 verse 15 lattice if you could read Paul is still counseling young Timothy well let's see what he challenges Timothy to do 2nd Timothy 2:15 I'll be reading from the New International Version 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 15 and he says do your best to present yourself to God as one approved a worker who does not know then that need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth I like that my Bible says be diligent but your Bible said do your best best so what tools has God given to Timothy and to us that can help us to rightly interpret the Word of God what have we learned from my study what are some of the tools Haiti the Holy Spirit absolutely so I asked the Holy Spirit John 16:13 to guide me into truth what else Dilli Jason the rest of the scriptures all right so I get acquainted with the rest of the scriptures have you ever had this happen Travis you're reading the Bible trying to understand it and the Holy Spirit flashes another Bible text in you mind mm-hmm it just happened what are you were how it how is the Holy Spirit able to do that let me ask this question Nicole is the Holy Spirit able to bring a text to your mind that you've never read technically it's not a trick question did the post it's all powerful so they could okay so it is possible that he could bring a text into your mind and you go wow where's that found open up my Bible and try to find it but more likely what no more likely reminder read my Bible and the Holy Spirit says remember because it says he'll bring it to our remembrance remember what you read remember what Jesus said bringing it to our remembrance Pedro I think that's a very important question because God wants us to be sharp on his word you know if the spirit can bring into our mind what he wants us to know but we'll be sharper you already know that what God has said to us and we'll be able to apply according to his word to his word so part of doing your best or being diligent to be a work who doesn't need to be ashamed would be studying the Bible prayerfully asking the Holy Spirit to guide you so that when you find a difficult situation the Holy Spirit can bring that word to your remembrance look at the next verse yes Haiti and I think that this is also that we need to remember that we don't have to interpret everything by ourselves God said it is not good for man to be alone and it's good for us to come out talking about interpreting the probably another text that would explain what you say we don't have to face it by ourselves right so I can listen to counsel and receive instruction that I may be wise yeah that is from proverbs chapter 19 yeah sometimes people pull a text out and say go and do likewise and it's nothing to do with it right but you're right we don't have to study by ourselves look at verse 16 of the same chapter Gary Oh second Timothy okay verse 16 okay sounds like you're bored somewhere else yeah Timothy Tonya do you have it yeah 2nd Timothy 2 verse 16 would you read it for us yes I will read for the bration Kings James but shun profane and vain babblings for they will increase unto more ungodliness how does a careful searching of the Bible enable me to shun what does the word shun mean idol and vain babblings profane and idle babblings how does a careful study of the word help me to shun those things anybody it elevates it elevates your mind and your thinking dwelling on God's you know some people will listen to anything right yeah yeah what's the latest gossip fanciful interpretation well not even discuss it but something about the Bible but just some other isn't there a place in actually what was wanting to listen to some new idea yeah if you're talking about the people there in Athens but I need to be able to say wait a minute that is not in harmony with the Word of God if I've been diligent about it Christian you know I was comparing that verse to other versions and the NIV the New International Version says godless chatter godless chatter and you know when I think about the Word of God it's the voice of God as I as I spend time in the word my mind and my my senses are are listening to the voice of God and when the voice of God is heard the godly voice of God that puts away godless chatter godless chatter Wow so the enemy's truck constantly trying to distract us right with chatter to silence the voice of God Pedro I find it interesting because I have encountered that in my life for example the tax on Peter I have if you do not understand well what is written or diligently read what is written you can get to see if and this babbling here it can happen throughout scripture because I have a person who came to me once and said that Peter Peter was rebuking Paul of teaching and untruthful words but that's not what Peter's saying it's clearly on the text that he's telling other people are using false writings exactly but somebody might miss read or might be misguided to believe that Paul was was was the one that was being twisting twisting and that's not clear an attack that's very clear that Paul is teaching the right thing but people can just read through it very simply or be following someone who are babbling as I can see here come back to something he said if I'm reading I don't understand it I can't talk to someone else who I know loves God and loves the word but then like the Bereans what will I do to see if those things is so and the Holy Spirit can bring confirmation and say you know what Andre said that was true in harmony with my word can you share time in your experience where the Holy Spirit guided you to avoid vain and idle babblings it's just like anybody have an experience that you can relate to Gladys yeah I went to a funeral and it was a seven day Adventists funeral Christian funeral yes and the preacher was talking about the state of today and and all of a sudden he just wanted to say you know and we know that he's watching us and will protect us and we're gonna pray and her just like how did it going on you know and people were just like it's not in harmony because that's not in harmony whether it's just like the Holy Spirit my ear was just like that you know he would just like twisting mixing the truth with and with you know fit and now through the stuff and he was ready to do that why would the president I'm sure the person was sincere yeah they may be watching hope service school right now why would a person mix some things that are biblically true and some things that aren't true boy any ideas Travis maybe not to just to try to avoid controversy exactly okay they don't want to offend someone because the person on Row 1 is sure that they were up there looking down on us yeah that's one possible reason why else Pedro well they might not be aware or what the Bible is saying completely they might have understood by somebody else like untaught person have given their own interpretation but they haven't checked like the Bereans it says that's what the Bible says so so the only way I can know is to have to know the Scriptures myself right yeah I think we need to be careful that we don't judge a person who's sharing mixed-up ideas they may just be mixed up yeah and so we need to come and say can you explain that to me from the Bible is there anywhere in the Bible that says grandma is looking down on me right now please show me that because jesus said the death is like a right so please explain it to me right but only if I know the word can I recognize a babbling so to speak let's keep looking at some counsel that Paul gave to young Timothy when dealing with difficult teachings 1st Timothy 4 Jason if you could read verses 12 through 16 why do you think Paul gets so much counsel to Timothy like what for Timothy why do you think he gives so much counsel to him he was mentoring him he was mentoring and Timothy was open to receiving right this isn't this is second Timothy so it's like he listened to the counsel in the first letter he comes another letter Jason 2nd Timothy 4:12 2:16 I'll be reading from the New King James Version 1st Timothy I'm sorry it is 1st Timothy no correcting that first Timothy chapter 4 verses 12 through 16 let no one despise your youth but be an example to the believers in Word in conduct in love in spirit in faith in purity till i come give attention to reading to exhortation to doctrine do not neglect the gift that is in you which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership meditate on these things give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all take heed to yourself and to the doctrine continue in them for doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you so Timothy's facing some challenges maybe some difficult teachings and he's got to try to discern what's true and what's not true what what counsel did you see here from Paul that would be helpful for us when we're dealing with the either difficult passages of scripture or difficult teachings Pedro you see continue and reading and futuring okay give attention to ongoing learning all right Gary meditate upon the things that you are trying to wrestle with okay so in order to meditate on those things you've got to slow down right yeah we're not talking here about Eastern meditation everything you mind we're talking about focusing on the word with the Holy Spirit with prayer yes in verse 14 it says that you know the elders laid their hands on him so he was already like set apart for a special job in the church so Paul is just keep telling him you know just just dedicate yourself do not doubt you know you have Leki's a gift take it what see the gift that is in you oh it's a gift of the Holy Spirit right they've laid hands and prayed for the Holy Spirit to empower this young preacher to be a faithful teacher of the Word of God and so he say remember the blessing keep studying the word take time to think about the things that you've learned these are strategies that can help us there's one other strategy he doesn't mention which we're going to find in the book of James Andre well you know also you're seeing here that when you do this give attention to reading exhortation and doctrine you're able to Coulter use this wonderful mind that God has given us to filter so that you know somebody can't come along and impress their personal belief and put it forward as a doctrine one one last thought before we look at this other quality this crucial and that is verse 16 don't just know it yeah what continue in them that's what's going to make your witness powerful right for example don't just say we need to love each other right but live live what you're talking about yes in verse 12 it says let no one look down on your youthfulness and so you know but rather in speech conduct love faith purity show yourself an example so sometimes when we're young older folks may think oh I can tell them what the Bible says because I know and they don't know the Holy Spirit can speak to all of us absolutely and sometimes so old of older people like me cuz I'm older right we may we may have carried some false understandings we need to learn from God and from each other but we need to do it with a certain attitude and that's what I want us to go to now in James chapter 4 Tanya if you could read for us James for verses 6 through 10 ok for the version King James James chapter 4 verse 6 through 10 says but he gives more grace where ever he said God resisted the proud but giveth grace into the humble submit yourselves therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded be afflicted and mourn and whip your ladder be turned into mourning and your joy to heaviness humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up that's a song isn't it humble yourself in the sight of the Lord why is a humble spirit so important especially when dealing with passages of scripture that are not easy to understand Christian you know Jesus himself said that the Scriptures are they which testify of me and when I when I become prideful the focus is turned towards me I'm focusing on myself and so I say I come to scripture if if I don't have a humble spirit I'm not gonna see the Jesus that is being revealed in the word have you ever met someone that came up with some new interpretation and they were very proud they found it and that's all they talked about right it's like a we call that a monomaniac that's all they talk about and you go where is Jesus here right I hear you saying a humble spirit might be you know I was thinking about this but I don't want to talk about that I want to lift up Jesus right yeah a humble spirit is also a teachable spirit amen and so when we look at verse 9 lament and warmth mourn and weep let your laughter be turn it and it's almost as if when we're humble and God can teach us we see things about ourselves and and and sometimes when I see things about myself I actually cry because I'm like wow I really was like that hmm and so I I think elders got a really important point which leaves us to our other texts in James 1 verses 5 and 6 and that is a teachable spirit excuse me a humble spirit is also a teachable spirit right because you're not pretending that you know everything by the way you'd have to pretend okay I remind you you don't know everything right hey T could you read for us in James 1 this is a beautiful promise especially when dealing with oh I don't think I understand what that means let's read the promise in James one five and six I'll be reading from the New King James Version and it says if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him but let him ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind so encouragement tell me what are you seeing there that's really encouraging really encouraging please say that - okay but I've got to make sure it's in harmony with the will of God Lord if it's your will for me to have what we know it's his will for us to have divine wisdom right so ask what else do you notice there that's so encouraging it isn't he gives liberally in all he doesn't have a restriction for giving you with him literally what is the word liberally made really really abundantly he's not generously without going brother you asked didn't you ask for wisdom last week that's another word that comes to mind is unconditionally unconditionally but also with an unlimited amount right no condition but you have more wisdom the angels go yes if anyone what else was there besides that and then I'll come to your point besides liberally your Bible oh we don't talk all and with without reproach without should we approach what does that mean without reproach you touched on it a moment ago you said he doesn't like say with you again like you're coming back like without some kind of rebuke or yeah he's happy right but come back to the hall well I was gonna also say with the with the without fault or my Bible says without faults I would always think as if I mess up today he's not gonna look at me and say you can't get it tomorrow if I asked for it tomorrow so I look at it that way that's it's it's gone conditionally he keeps giving it to you as long as you ask and you're willing to ignore it beautiful liberally to all without reproach so why would we not ask for wisdom especially if we're studying the Bible and we come across a difficult passage why would we not ask God for wisdom back to your text why would we not do it because right right you know well I go to admit I don't know everything you know I want to tell you the most dangerous people are the people who think they know everything they're dangerous but a humble spirit is a teachable spirit well with that background Pedro you had a comment to make before we look at some difficult passage yep they which looked here that it was important for us to have faith but without faith God wants to give freely he wants to bless us but if we don't trust that he will do it it's like not asking you can say God can you say me but I'm not sure if I can receive it we have to be willing heart to accept that life and by the way one of the things we've learned here on hope service school is that even faith is a gift of God no faith well that's right I need more faith I think I'm happy that you asked I'm going to give it liberally and to always ground maybe we should add to all who asked without reproach well let's look at a couple of difficult passages I don't know which one specifically Peter was thinking about when he said there were some difficult things that Paul wrote but I'm gonna just take a few not just in the writings of Paul I'm gonna go right to Jesus hmm who said something that well it may be difficult to understand Luke 23 and verse 43 Luke 23:43 Nancy if you could read that for us after Nancy's read it someone give us the context because in order to correctly interpret we need the context right so Nancy would you read for us the word of Jesus yes and I'm reading from the NASD and he said to him truly I say to you today you will you shall be with me in paradise and he said to him now that's the you know those pronouns are tough who's the he said to him okay who's the heat right if you have a red-letter Edition it will be in red letters jesus said to him who's the him a thief who's dying next to him on a cross he said to him why did Jesus say something to him here's the context now Nicole what's the context well the thief on the cross actually spoke to Jesus first and said remember me I'm in your kingdom Lord remember me when you come into your when you come into your kingdom right the other thief was cursing right you can say save yourself and us you know Lord remember me so that's the context and in response Jesus says let's read it again for us Nancy in verse 43 Jesus says to this dying thief Jesus also on a cross truly I say to you today you shall be with me in paradise truly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise now this is difficult you know why because in John 23 days later what does Jesus say Christian to Mary Magdalene when she realizes he's risen from the dead yes in in John chapter 20 verse 17 Oh give us a moment to find that yes I knew it was there yes John chapter 20 verse 17 and have with version known as New King James and what did Jesus say to Mary Magdalene this is not Friday when he's dying this is abbath when he's resting in the tomb but the first day of the week when he's raised from the dead what does he say during the first day of the week and Jesus said to her do not clean to me for I have not yet ascended to my father so Jesus wasn't in paradise on what we call Good Friday when he died he says on what we call Easter Sunday I'm not yet ascended to my father so you say Derek that's difficult to understand and what did Peter say some can do what list it to their own destruction so how do I deal with that difficult text well what's the basic principles we've learned so far pray ask the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and peer scripture here scripture which is what Christian did when you read from John 20 verse 17 where Jesus said I don't know what you're interpreting there but I've not yet ascended to my father on the on the first day of the week right so how do we understand that difficult text can anybody help us Pedro well one interesting thing about translation is that somebody pick up from the original which is this case Greek and translate it into English or Spanish or Korean or whichever language they're reading in right yes and when we see it in Greek there was no punctuation and we see a comma here on this text so would we say that the comma is a misinterpretation yeah is that right the comma is interpretation yes now we're talking about how to interpret the Bible yeah by the way have you ever noticed sometimes a chapter seems to end right in the middle of the thought yeah yeah but the chapters aren't inspired either you know when the chapters and verses were added to the to the Bible anybody know anybody know approximately I think it's about the 12th century something like that okay that's a long time after the book was written but Pedro let's work with what you've just told us because you're absolutely correct there is no punctuation in the text so where you put that comma after today thanks a lot of difference doesn't it give us an illustration of how where you put the punctuation who change the meaning well we can see here that Jesus saying I should I say to you today you will be with me in paradise if I put the comma after today we can see that Jesus talking to him today so I can come to you Derek today I'm telling you that we're going to have a meeting tomorrow but I can remove that tomorrow with it so I'm telling you today we'll meet so the dying on the cross Jesus says one other you said well I can't be sure cuz the commas not either place you're right I'm going to have to look at other scriptures to come to an accurate conclusion but if I if that comma could be put after today after I tell you today you will be while I'm dying and you're dying too but I tell you today you you will be with me in paradise was that true yeah absolutely when the dead in Christ shall rise because by the way that thief would die that day wouldn't he Jesus would be raised on the third day and say I've not yet ascended to my father I'm not you're gone yet gone to paradise I'm going to ascend now to my father and your father right my God in your God but the day will come mm-hmm when the dead in Christ rise and we'll be together in paradise amen amen so you say well you can't tell where the calm is exactly I've got to look other places do you see how important that is and I've got to compare other scriptures Andres got a point here the ask do I go straight to heaven when I die that's another question what did Jesus mean when he said the last day they'll hear his voice and they'll come forth from the grave and in finding context here as well besides the misplacement of a comma the you know you go back a little bit you see where the soldiers are mocking him if you're the king of the Jews save yourself and then the one thief curses him says whatever he says and then this one says in verse 42 then he said to Jesus Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom acknowledging his lordship acknowledging his kingship and if you know Jesus used parables to help the people understand different things and even in this Jesus is using something that he may have understood being under a monarchy or in that circumstance one of the highest honors a king could bestow on you is it to invite you to walk in his private garden and so it was empty when he said remember me when you come into your kingdom it was in a short that Jesus gave him oh yes you will be with me in paradise I'm gonna take you to another difficult passage I wrestled with this one because I didn't understand it Exodus 10 and verse 20 and if you think it's just isolated you can read verse 27 in chapter 11 verse 10 and you'll read the same thing so Nicole if you have Exodus 10 and verse 20 what does it read there in your Bible the New International Version of Exodus 10 20 says but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not let the Israelites go wait I thought the Bible says he's not willing that any should perish I thought it says God so loved the world so let me check I mean look at the context right so I'm gonna go to verse 27 of Exodus chapter 10 and what does that say and it called the New International Version of verse 27 says but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he was not willing to let them go well that's what it just said to go to chapter 11 and verse 10 Nicole if you could we're just looking at the context here the New International Version says Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not let the Israelites go out of this country if I don't do my careful Bible study what conclusion must I come to from reading those three verses the Lord hardened what must I come to the Lord eris heart and some would say well see I told you God doesn't love everyone he doesn't want everyone to be safe but there's so many Bible passages that tell me he does love everyone and whosoever will may come so I've got to look in the hunting's is there anything else in that story which talks about a heart being hardened and the answer is yes how could I find it I could look up in a concordance harden'd right I can see where else I might find Exodus chapter 8 verse 15 Exodus 8 verse 15 and Gary looks like you're almost there would you read verse 15 for us yes Exodus 8:15 in the New King James Version says but when Pharaoh saw that there was relief he hardened his heart and did not heed them as the Lord had said well that's different it says that he Pharaoh hardened his heart well I just say I'm gonna look at the context why don't you look at verse 32 of the same chapter by the way this is the same book Moses under the inspiration of God it's the same book you're not saying well that's just another writer with another idea same book same author under inspiration Exodus 8 verse 32 32 from the New King James Version says but Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also neither would he let the people go so I'm still a little bit confused so that helps me a lot because we all know that we have a choice right yeah it says he hardened his heart so why didn't the other place does it say God hardened his heart Haidee well when I look I was reading this a few years ago with kids and I was thinking the same thing like what God hardened his heart but when I look at the Bible I just see this all loving all merciful all compassionate God and I see other times when there are also pagan leaders like Nebuchadnezzar who did surrender to God and God accepted him and I see Darius and I see other people like Ruth like Rahab the people of the whole city of Nineveh who repented and God forgave them then that gives me confirmation that if the Pharaoh had repented God 100% would have forgiven him but he chose on his own to reject the Lord and when he continued to reject the Lord the Lord I'm sure was brokenhearted and he said oh man he's not gonna accept me but I'm gonna use this because there are other people here in Egypt who haven't rejected me yet and there are other people in Israel who have not rejected me yet and I'm gonna use this for my advantage so that they can see that there is a true Living God in heaven and I'm gonna continue to do these miracles and their hearts will be turned to me and they were because we see that after that you know maybe the Pharaoh would have stopped after the second or third plague but the Lord used his rejection to go to plague number three four five and when they left after the tenth plague it said in Exodus chapter 12 I don't remember the verse I think it's 14 but it says that other people went with them okay meaning that some of the Egyptians went with them so God worked something good out of that I still want to know why it says in those verses God hardened Pharaoh's heart I wouldn't have been simpler Christian just saying all of them Pharaoh hardened his heart so I'm just being honest like Peter and saying that's a little difficult why do you think in one place it says Pharaoh hardened his heart and the other place God hardened Pharaoh's heart you know at the end of the day it's not it's not so much God's doing but it's really my doing in the sense that I can choose to exercise faith or unbelief you know and just like wax you know or clay you know in the presence of the same Sun you know wax will just melt but the clay will harden you know and it's the same Sun you know so us we come before the same God you know I I can choose to exercise faith and when I do that my heart is softened but when I exercise unbelief my heart is hardened you're absolutely right but you didn't answer my question the answer is I don't know why places fear but I've got to be careful die don't distort the picture of the character of God because in other places it says fear of heart disart and we know that God's not willing that any should perish one last question for you by the way if Peter can be honest we can do right yeah one last question before we just got two minutes why is important Travis in all of my study especially with difficult passages to remember that it's all about Jesus hmm to keep Jesus at the center whatever I'm studying why is that crucially important jesus said we should do that right why is that so important because he's the way the truth and the life so the remember of Bible verses says sanctify them by your truth your word is true and so if we want to live a sanctified healthy life we're always going to focus on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith he is the way he's the way he's the truth he's the life keep Jesus at the center so I find a passage that's difficult to understand keep talk to Jesus yes say Jesus you promised the Holy Spirit would come and help me and by the way if I don't fully understand it all now most important is I have a living connection I can ask that question when we get there what did you mean and he might say that's what is important is that you gave your heart to me and you trusted me well he might give us a simple answer and we'll say why didn't I see that we have so much to learn don't we yeah but you know the enemy would say give up on the Bible because there's some difficult passages don't give up on the Bible the Bible is a lamp to our feet our light to our path ask Jesus to guide you he will lead you by his spirit into truth and if there's a few things you don't understand we'll talk to godly people check in the Bible again we're live with the question until you see your Savior face to face because then all will be well let's pray together father in heaven thank you for your word we know there are some difficult passages but we thank you for your Holy Spirit's guidance to be our teacher we thank you most of all that you lead us to Jesus who is our perfect Savior may we trust in him today and let him lead us day by day in Jesus name we pray amen amen well thanks for joining us for hope Sabbath school I was gonna ask you to send all of your difficult passages but I'd rather have you spend time getting to know Jesus he filled with His Holy Spirit and then go out and be a blessing to those around you [Music] [Applause] [Applause] you

Channel: HopeSabbathSchool

Views: 47,528

Rating: 4.7707949 out of 5

Keywords: Hope Sabbath School, Seventh-Day Adventist, Derek Morris, Dealing with difficult passages

Id: UpGBllDZUQw

Length: 58min 32sec (3512 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 15 2020