Defilements Part 3

(Isaiah 59:1, NASB95) Continued...
Next we read that “They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.” Literally this says “They become pregnant with trouble for others and give birth to iniquity.” This has many applications. The one that most readily comes to mind is that they dream up and commit evil against other people. But this also can mean that they dream up philosophies or word views and in teaching them to others evil results.
Verses four through eight continue on with this thought and the main point that needs to be taken from these verses is the switch from “you” to “they”; from the thought of an individual to that of a group. As mischief is conceived and iniquity birthed by an individual others will join in eventually changing families and nations.
In verse six we read that "Their webs will not become clothing, Nor will they cover themselves with their works." All of the mental gymnastics that they are doing to convince themselves that they are doing right will not count for anything with God. For example a man whose world view is that of “if it works for you, it is ok” marries a woman with the same view and they produce children who end up in goddess worship. Those children grow up and marry like minded spouses and produce like minded children and so on until the nation has changed.
This is a simple example, but it does not really matter what the defilements are, the result is still the same and unless God intervenes to stop it, or unless He reverses the national trend through believers in the nation standing for Christ the nation will be judged and destroyed.
Personal, family and national defilement all lead up to defilement of the land. This is beyond the curse on the land because of Adams sin. It can reach a point where God declares "‘For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants." (Leviticus 18:25, NASB95) This is both a spiritual condition of the people in the land and a physical condition of the land itself.

Plan of God

A few Sundays ago the pastor of the church that I attend wrapped up a series on the plan of God. This is a study that has been a long time in the making and has been rolled up into book format. The church is looking to publish the book at some time, but the finances must line up for that to happen. Anyway, I invite you to read the book and to listen to the audio of the classes.

Defilements Part 2

Verse one begins with a glimmer of hope:
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear." (Isaiah 59:1, NASB95)
The hope presented here is that of salvation. We see that God has the ability and we can infer that He has the desire to do so. In verse two we see that He will not do so.
"But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear." (Isaiah 59:2, NASB95)
Notice that the readers here are addressed by the word “you”, later on the “you” becomes “they” indicating a shift from the personal to the collective. So let us first consider the personal aspect of this.
Verse three tells us that: "For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters wickedness." (Isaiah 59:3, NASB95) We have a pairing here of hands and fingers then lips and tongue. This signifies that they were whole heartedly committed to their wickedness.
In verse four we read “No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly.” Another way of rendering this is “no one calls right, right and no one judges (or rules) honestly”. This is calling right wrong and wrong right and leads to a loss of the ability to discern right from wrong. It is also the loss of ethical government.
Verse four continues with “They trust in confusion and speak lies”. The word for trust is the Hebrew word ָבַּטח bāṭah (H 982): A verb indicating to trust, to be confident. It expresses the feeling of safety and security that is felt when one can rely on someone or something else.[1] The word for confusion is ֹתּהוּ tōhû (H 8414): A masculine noun meaning formlessness, confusion.[2] It is the same word used to describe the earth before God began his restorative acts of creation in Genesis 1:2. One thing that needs to be noted here is that because of the trust in confusion they may not even realize that they are speaking lies. To them what they are saying is solid truth. But this truth is based upon a willful rejection of Gods truth. "Professing to be wise, they became fools," (Romans 1:22, NASB95)

[1] The Complete Word Study Dictionary Old Testament.
[2] The Complete Word Study Dictionary Old Testament.

Defilements Part 1

Defilements are what we are to escape from and what so easily entangle us. We shall consider what these defilements are and in order to do that we shall look at each word in the Hebrew and the Greek that is translated as defilement.

Hebrew:

H 2490. חָלַל châlal, khaw-lal’; a prim. root [comp. H 2470]; prop. to bore, i.e. (by impl.) to wound, to dissolve; fig. to profane (a person, place or thing)

H 1602. גָּעַל gâ˓al, gaw-al’; a prim. root; to detest; by impl. to reject:— abhor, fail, lothe, vilely cast away.

H 2491. חָלָל châlâl, khaw-lawl’; from H 2490; pierced (espec. to death); fig. polluted:— kill, profane


H 1351. גָּאַל gaal (146a); a prim. root; to defile

H 2610. חָנֵף chânêph, khaw-nafe’; a prim. root; to soil, espec. in a mor. sense:— corrupt, defile, × greatly, pollute, profane.

H 2930. טָמֵא ṭâmê˒, taw-may’; a prim. root; to be foul, espec. in a cerem. or mor. sense (contaminated):— defile (self)

H 2931. טָמֵא ṭâmê˒, taw-may’; from H 2930; foul in a relig. sense:— defiled

Greek:

G 3393. μίασμα miasma; from G 3392; a stain, defilement

G 3435. μολύνω molunō; to stain, defile:

G 2840. κοινόω koinoō; from 2839; to make common:

G 2839. κοινός koinos; from G 4862; common


G 3436. μολυσμός molusmos; from G 3435; defilement

G 3392. μιαίνω miainō; to stain, defile

In the Old Testament the word defilement dealt with many aspects of life, encompassing defilements of the land, of the nation, of the person, family or sexual in nature. In the New Testament it dealt with aspects of the personal, inter-personal or religious.
Defilement is progressive. By this I mean that it starts with the defilement of a person then moves on to the family, next to the nation and finally to the land itself. It is like filling several containers that are connected by pipes only on each container the pipe to the next is somewhat higher than on the last.
Defilements also come in two spectrums; that of unbelievers and that of believers. Under the principle of judgment beginning at the house of the lord unbelievers have a longer leash, so to speak. There are many verses in the Old Testament that cover all aspects of defilements but Isaiah 59:1-8 takes us from personal to national, defilement of the land shall be covered separately.

If.

ἐι translated as “if” in this case means if and it is true. There are two aspects of “if and it is true”. One: if and it is true that you have escaped and two: if and it is true that you are entangled.

If and it is true that you have escaped.
There are two aspects of the escape in view here.
One: the escape that comes from the penalty of sin. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1, NASB95)
The second escape that we have is from the power of sin. "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:11, NASB95)
Even though we are “dead to sin” we can choose to sin. That choice places us under sins control. "and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." (Romans 6:13, NASB95)

If and it is true that you are entangled.
The idea behind entangled here is that of a weaving. It is not something that is catching on to you it is, however, something that is becoming interwoven with you. As you may know when you weave something together it becomes stronger and more difficult to brake. This is how it is with a Christian who becomes entangled with sin. And just as in weaving a pattern emerges.

This pattern is not random.
"But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." (James 1:14, NASB95)
First there is temptation and the decision to do the sin. Sometimes hours or days may go by where the sin is considered from every angle as Eve did in Genesis 3:6. At some point though you will bite, so to speak, and commit the sin. After the sin is committed comes guilt. As the pattern re-enforces itself the ability to choose not to sin is lost and eventually the guilt goes away, in its place is emptiness.

Starting Point

Contextual summary:

Context: 2 Peter 2:17-22
These verses describe “false prophets” and “false teachers”; note that the false prophets are among the people and the false teachers are among you, referring to believers. These false ones introduce false teachings with the result of leading people astray. The ones lead astray include believers (those who barely escape). Believers who return to their own “vomit” are worse off than those who never new Christ.

2 Peter 2:20

This verse is speaking directly to believers, we understand this because “they… escaped by the knowledge of… Christ.”
This verse contains two thoughts, the main thought and a parenthetical thought. The main thought is contained in the words, “For if they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first”. And the parenthetical thought is “after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. We shall consider the parenthetical thought first as it must be understood in order to fully comprehend the main thought.
Notice that “they” had escaped. “They” had avoided by means of fleeing from the defilements and, for whatever reason, “they” stopped actively fleeing; by implication “they” also stopped pursuing the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Salvation has many different aspects. When we believe in Christ we are saved there and then eternally. "and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”" (Acts 16:30-31, NASB95)
We are saved daily from the control of sin by the means of bible study. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB95)
Ultimately we will be saved from the presence of sin “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea." (Revelation 21:1, NASB95)
Once a person becomes a believer in Christ they maintain their escape from defilements by seeking the knowledge of Christ. This process is outlined in Colossians 3:1-3.
“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:1-3, NASB95)
Note that you are to set your mind on the things above. This is a conscious decision to seek Christ. This is accomplished by daily prayer and bible study. This is not a list of do’s and don’ts it is however a slow change from the old to the new. Any attempt to stop doing “worldly” things will fail unless that stopping is the result of “worldly things” being replaced with the “things of God”. As a person grows in Christ the things of the world will decrease in importance.

Laying the ground work

"For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first." (2 Peter 2:20, NASB95)

"Εἰ γὰρ ἀποφυγόντες τὰ μιάσματα τοῦ κόσμου ἐν ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ Σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τούτοις δὲ πάλιν ἐμπλακέντες ἡττῶνται, γέγονεν αὐτοῖς τὰ ἔσχατα χείρονα τῶν πρώτων." (2 Peter 2:20, Majority Text (Hodges/Farstad))

Vocabulary
Εἰ (G 1623) if: a marker of a condition, real, hypothetical, actual, or contrary to fact [1]

ἀποφυγόντες (G 668) escape: to flee. To flee away from, escape;[2] (LN 21.14) to become safe from danger by avoiding or escaping—‘to escape, to avoid.’[3]

μιάσματα (G 3393) defilements: The contamination of the world upon the godly as a result of living in it; the result of miasmós (G 3394), the act of polluting.[4] (LN 88.259) a state of being tainted or stained by evil.[5]

ἐπιγνώσει (G 1922) knowledge: noun from epiginṓskō (G 1921), to recognize. It is more intense. than gnṓsis (G 1108), knowledge, because it expresses a more thorough participation in the acquiring of knowledge on the part of the learner. In the NT, it often refers to knowledge which very powerfully influences the form of religious life, a knowledge laying claim to personal involvement. [6]

ἐμπλακέντες (G 1707) entangled: To braid in, interweave, entangle.[7] (LN 90.81) to become so involved in some activity as to experience severe restrictions as to what one can do.[8]

ἡπῶνται (G G 2274) overcome: less, inferior. To overcome or be overcome as in battle or in a lawsuit (2Pe 2:19-20); to be inferior (2Co 12:13).[9] (LN 88.134) to experience worse treatment—‘to be treated worse, to suffer more.’[10]

[1]Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.) (DBLG 1623, #1). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[2] The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament.
[3]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996, c1989). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (1:239). New York: United Bible societies.
[4] The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament.
[5]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996, c1989). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (1:769). New York: United Bible societies.
[6] The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament.
[7] The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament.
[8]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996, c1989). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (1:808). New York: United Bible societies.
[9] The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament.
[10]Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996, c1989). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition.) (1:756). New York: United Bible societies.

A short Brake from Romans 12

I had hoped to complete verse two before I needed to take a brake but I have caught up with myself in my notes. So while I am getting ahead in Romans 12 I would like to share a study that I did on 2 Peter 2:20.
A while back my pastor ask me to write out my thoughts on 2 Peter 2:20 as a way to explore the possibility that I may have a teaching gift.
I hope that you find it interesting.

The Fruit of the Spirit Part 8: Self-Control

ἐγκράτεια (G 1466) Self control.
This is the ability to not be governed by one’s own passions.
Vine’s Dictionary states the following “the various powers bestowed by God upon man are capable of abuse; the right use demands the controlling power of the will under the operation of the Spirit of God; in Acts 24:25 the word follows “righteousness,” which represents God’s claims, self-control being man’s response thereto; in 2 Pet. 1:6, it follows “knowledge,” suggesting that what is learned requires to be put into practice.”[1]
"For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:8, NASB95)
Self control is mentioned in 2 Peter 1:6 and is one of the qualities referenced in the verse above. A person who has little or no self control is useless to God. A lack of self control will impact every area of one’s life in a negative way.

[1]Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W. (1996). Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words (2:620). Nashville: T. Nelson.

The Fruit of the Spirit Part 7: Gentleness

πραΰτης (G 4240) praǘtēs; gen. praǘtētos, fem. noun from praǘs (G 4239), meek. Meekness, but not in a man's outward behavior only, nor in his relations to his fellow man or his mere natural disposition. Rather, it is an inwrought grace of the soul, and the expressions of it are primarily toward God (Jas 1:21; Jas 3:13; 1Pe 3:15; Sept.: Psa 45:4). It is that attitude of spirit we accept God's dealings with us as good and do not dispute or resist. Praǘtēs, according to Aristotle, is the middle standing between two extremes, getting angry without reason (orgilótēs [n.f.]), and not getting angry at all (aorgēsía [n.f.]). Therefore, praǘtēs is getting angry at the right time, in the right measure, and for the right reason. Praǘtēs is not readily expressed in Eng. (since the term "meekness" suggests weakness), but it is a condition of mind and heart which demonstrates gentleness, not in weakness, but in power. It is a balance born in strength of character.[1]
"So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you." (Colossians 3:12-13, NASB95)
Gentleness is the guiding thought behind our dealings with fellow Christians. It comes from our understanding of God’s attitude toward us as his creatures. It is the concept that Christ died for this person so how then should I deal with them. It requires an understanding of your place in Christ and an understanding of the other persons standing with Christ. This applies especially to our dealings with the unbeliever who is caught up in all sorts of evil and our dealing with the believer who is also caught up in those things.

[1] Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament