"And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory."

Re 16

Question 300: What Did Our Saviour Mean By Saying To Peter “When Thou Art Converted Strengthen Thy Brethren”?

Answer:

The revised version renders the passage (Luke 22:32): "When thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren.'' We cannot suppose that after Peter's fall, he needed conversion in the sense in which we use the word. He needed repentance and restoration. His words, his actions and the intense devotion he had previously shown to Moshiach, all indicated a man already converted. He fell under temptation as Moshiach had foreseen, but it was a backsliding which Moshiach forgave. At Shavuot their experience was not conversion, but an enduement of power for service, notably the power of speaking foreign tongues.

Question 299: Who Is Represented By The “Elder Brother” In The Prodigal Brother?

Answer:
Primarily, the Pharisees and chief priests, who were scandalized by seeing Moshiach associate with the lower classes and notorious sinners. It was a rebuke to selfishness and formalism - to those who believe they have the spiritual right of way and that less worthy persons, who had been basking in the divine goodness, should be envious or critical of the cordial welcome that is extended to a redeemed sinner. The lesson applies to people in our own day who have no sympathy with the work going on at rescue missions and are sceptical about the conversion of evildoers. The parable was a reproof to such persons, but it also conveyed a weighty lesson as to the evil of sin. Although the father forgave his younger son and gave him joyful welcome, he said to the elder, "All that I have is thine," thereby intimating that the younger son's lost patrimony could not be restored. The sinner is urged to repent and is promised pardon, but the time he has wasted and the health he has injured and the mischief his example has done, are irreparable evils.

Question 298: What Were The “Husks That The Swine Did Eat?”

Answer:

The husks (see Luke 15:16), were the fruit of the carob tree, which is common in Palestine and is used by the poor as food and for the fattening of swine or cattle. When ripe, it is like a cooked bean pod, brown, glossy and filled with seeds. Children eat it readily and seem to thrive on it. The carob is of the same family as the American locust tree. Its fruit is sometimes called "St. John's bread," as John the Baptist is thought to have lived upon it in the wilderness.

Question 297: What Was Meant By The “Ninety And Nine Just Persons Which Need No Repentance?”

Answer:

There was a tendency among the Pharisees (see Luke 15:2) to despise the sinner and make no effort for his reclamation. They prided themselves on their scrupulous observance of the Law and on their lives being free from open sin. Moshiach met them on their own ground and showed them that the recovery and reformation of the sinner was pleasing to YHVH. He desires that none should perish, but that all should forsake sin and return. They thought that as there were no flagrant sins in their lives to be repented of, that they were YHVH's favourite children. Moshiach showed them that if as they contended, they were free from such sins, their self-righteous attitude was not so pleasing to YHVH as was the attitude of the man who knew he had done wrong and abjured it and asked pardon. There was need for repentance on the part of those who claimed to be just persons, as Moshiach showed them over and over again; but He was teaching another lesson at that time and was proving to them that, even assuming that they were sinless as they claimed, they were wrong in the position they took toward the sinner.

Frequently asked questions and answers:

Question 296: What Is Meant By Hating Father And Mother For Yeshua’ Sake?

Answer:

In Luke 14:26 our Saviour asserts His claim to our most loyal service and our supreme affection. In taking up one's cross to follow Him, we must be prepared for trials for His sake and to break even the nearest and dearest ties, if need be. He must have the first place in our hearts. It may come to choosing between Moshiach and our nearest relations. Compare Matthew 10:37 with the passage in Luke 14. "Hate" is not the preferable word, as the passage in Matthew shows. The passage in Luke obscures the true form of the expression and invests it with harshness while Matthew makes the true meaning clear, that we are to love Him better than all else, even those who are nearest and dearest to us and that this love must assert itself loyally at the crisis, no matter what it may cost us. A loyal soldier will give up all to serve his country; so we too must be prepared to give up all if need be, to serve Moshiach.

Question 295: What Did Yeshua Mean By: “Take No Thought For Your Life, What Ye Shall Eat, Neither For Your Body What Ye Shall Put On?”

Answer:

This was a part of the "Sermon on the Mount," and Luke 12:19-34 is intended to illustrate heavenly-mindedness and confidence in YHVH's providence. The particular passage quoted admonishes the believer not to be too anxiously concerned or worried about things that are purely temporal. It is right to make due provision for our own needs and the needs of those dependent upon us; but when we have done so, we should not fret and doubt and make ourselves and others miserable because of our fears of coming trouble. This applies to our food, our clothing and our worldly affairs generally. All such doubts and worries spring from unbelief and are after the manner of the world. If we really believe and trust our heavenly Father, He will provide all we need. This promise however, does not relieve us from the natural duty of making reasonable provision, though there are some people who mistakenly think so. The whole passage broadly interpreted, means that we are to do our work here properly and cheerfully and to trust the Father for the rest and never worry, always keeping in view the greater duty of "seeking first the Kingdom," beside which all other things are insignificant. Worry in the sense involved in the passage is a sin against YHVH since it shows absolute lack of faith in His promised providential care.

Question 294: Why Did Yeshua Allow Evil Spirits To Entre The Herd Of Swine?

Answer:

According to the Law, swine (pigs) were unclean and any Jew owning them or using them as food violated this Law. The destruction of the herd (Luke 8:26, 36) and the question of the destination of the evil spirits has been well explained by Trench in his famous book on Miracles. He wrote: "A man is of more value than many swine" and added that it is not necessary to suppose that our Saviour sent the devils into the swine, but merely permitted them to go, adding further that if those Gadarene villagers who owned the swine were Jews as may be supposed, they were properly punished by the loss of that which they ought not to have had at all. As for the evil spirits, it is reasonable to conclude that they found a congenial refuge somewhere else. With regard to their recognition of Yeshua as divine, we have Scripture assurance that "the devils believe and tremble."

Question 293: How Are We To Understand “Whosoever Hath, To Him Shall Be Given?”

Answer:

This expression (Luke 8:18) occurs in a number of New Testament passages, Matthew 13:12, Mark 4:25, etc. Its meaning is most evident in Matthew 25:29 and Luke 19:26, in connection with the parable of the talents or pounds. Moshiach is stating in these words two laws which are universal. First, a man must have something to start with before he can do any work. Second, if he does not make good use of what is given he loses it In other words: something never comes from nothing; neglect means loss. Every man is given something to start with for working out his life plan. If he neglects to use what he has he loses it. It cannot be said that YHVH takes it away from him; the man simply lets it slip through his fingers. Helen Keller had very little to begin with, but she made such amazingly faithful use of that, that she gained much more. She used and developed the sense of touch until it has become almost equal to sight and hearing. But a sense or a muscle unused becomes useless. A man has only to stop walking and he will soon lose the power to walk. It is ridiculous to say that there is anything cruel about this. It is simply the law of life. And the law works no hardship to anyone who has a desire to make good use of life. In the passage (Luke 8:18) the law is applied to hearing. When a man hears a truth he must follow it and apply it quickly. If he does not he will forget it, or cease to believe it or lose it in some other way.

Question 292: What Was The Special Value And Object Of Yeshua’ Parables?

Answer:

"But unto others in parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand" Luke 8:10. Dean Farrar says on this passage: "Saviour Bacon says, 'a parable has a double use; it tends to veil and it tends to illustrate a truth; in the latter case it seems designed to teach, in the former to conceal.' Our Saviour wished the multitude to understand, but the result and profit depended solely on the degree of their faithfulness. The parables resembled the Pillar of Fire, which was to the Egyptians a Pillar of Cloud." The truth veiled in the form of parable was withheld from the people because their minds had grown too gross to receive it. "Had the parable of the mustard seed, for instance," says Dr Whedon, "been explained to the Pharisees as indicating that the Gospel would yet fill the earth, it would only have excited their additional hostility and hastened their purpose of accusing Him as intending to subvert the existing government." They themselves, as we learn from Matthew 13:15, had wilfully closed their eyes to the Gospel and so it’s real principles must be withheld from them. To some this may have been a mercy, preventing them from using the truth to evil purposes. To others it may have been simply the penalty due them for having insulted the truth and become unworthy of it. While however, the parable veiled the truth from cavillers, it unveiled it to the disciples (Matthew 13:11). The unreceptive people, "seeing" the narrative, saw "not" the doctrine embodied; "hearing" the literal parable, they understood "not" the secret meaning. "The whole Gospel is a parable to Him whose heart has not the key." This solemn teaching is found also in the law and the prophets. Deuteronomy 29:3, 4; Isaiah 6-9; Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2.