Welcome to "A Year In the New Testament"!

As 2016 ends and 2017 begins, I plan to read carefully through the New Testament in the course of this year, roughly one chapter a day, forcing myself to read the text by (lightly) blogging on each chapter.

I've organized the New Testament readings so that I will read through each of the four gospels at different times of the year, roughly once every three months, with various other New Testament books read in between, following a theme or a historical order.  We will begin with the gospel of Luke in January, followed by the book Acts, providing a nice overview of the ministry of Jesus and the young first century church.  Along the way, we will look at the letters of Paul to the Galatians and to the church in Thessalonica. After looking at several more letters by Paul, we will return to the gospels, taking up the Gospel of Matthew in April and May.  Eventually we will read the Gospel of Mark in mid-summer and the gospel fo John in October and November.

Each blog post will include the text of the chapter, along with a few notes and comments.  Sundays will not include new material but will be a time to catch up; On Sundays I will post a summary blog or outline some passages to come.

The New Testament has 260 chapters.  Most chapters have fewer than 40 verses but a few have as many as 80 verses.  We will go through the 260 chapters usually at a rate of one chapter a day; occasionally we will split up a longer chapter and take several days to cover it.  This allows us to break the New Testament into 312 chapters or partial chapters, covering a 6 passages a week for 52 weeks.  On Sundays we will take a break from the chapter-a-day routine and look at some concepts related to the chapters covered or give a brief summary of the covered New Testament book.

I hope to post a new chapter, with a few observations, every morning. In my posts I will often include links to other resources or to related Bible passages. (These are usually marked in bright pink so that it is clear that this is a hyperlink different from the text.)

Will you join me in A Year in the New Testament?  Feel free to follow the blog and comment -- or not -- as you see fit.  You may write me by sending email to KenWSmith54 (AT) gmail (DOT) com.

"A Year in the New Testament" -- Reviewing 2016

Over the past 365 days, I have read through each New Testament chapter and commented lightly on the passages.  My readings have focused primarily on what the passages say, without pushing on, necessarily, to interpretation or application.

On Sundays, instead of looking at a particular passage, I took a break from the chapter study and summarized an idea that I felt was related to the recent New Testament readings.

I have enjoyed this study and have been fairly consistent with it.  In 365 days I have made 365 posts. (I got seriously behind in my posting in November, as I struggled with a variety of other activities, including work and soccer. But I caught up in mid-November, often making two posts a day.)

Since I've gone through this process once and have reached some basic consistency in how I post the New Testament passage, I think it is time to do it again!  So I will begin on January 1 with the Gospel of Luke and work through 2017 attempting to, once again, cover a New Testament chapter each day.

Feel free to join me! If you are interested in reading through the New Testament in 2017, I invite you to "follow" the blog and feel free to make a comment or two!

You may believe that the New Testament is "Scripture", that is, the voice of God speaking to us fragile humans. Or you may simply recognize that the New Testament is significant literature, literature of one of the world's great religions. Regardless of your view of the New Testament, join me in reading it!

You may write me by sending email to KenWSmith54 (AT) gmail (DOT) com.

Revelation 22, The Tree of Life

The next journey is now at hand.

Revelation 22: 1-5, The river and tree of life

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 

In the New City, the tree of life grows, providing healing.  The curse of the Fall is gone.  (Where have we seen the tree of life before?  What was the issue then?  See Genesis 3:22.) In this case, we are all invited to partake of the Tree of Life, moving on as immortals in some eternal plan of the Creator of the Universe.

Once again, it is stressed that we will not need any more lights.  This seems strange to us… but surely it different for them back then, with darkness and night a difficult time.

At this point the vision is essentially over.  We now have some last instructions.

Revelation 22: 6-11, Final warnings and blessings

The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."  

"Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book." 

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me.  But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" 

Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.  Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy." 

Once again, John is tempted to worship the messenger.

What warning is there regarding this book? Why?

What do these last sentence mean?  Why is the one who is "vile" to "continue to be vile"?

Revelation 22: 12-16, Jesus' invitation

"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  

"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.  Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.  

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." 

John provides us with one final chorus, one more statement about the One in charge of all creation, described here as the "First and Last", "Alpha and Omega," the "Root of ... David" (that is, the promised Messiah.) 

Revelation 22: 17, Jesus, Water of Life

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" 

And let him who hears say, "Come!" 

Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. 

Who is the bride here?

Who has right to the tree of life? Invitations to others to "come" and "take" occur throughout John's writings, emphasizing God's gift of friendship and eternal purpose.

Revelation 22: 18-19, Warning

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.  And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. 

Again, some more warnings about the book! What does it mean for God to take away his share in the tree of life?  How does this agree with our understanding of salvation?

Revelation 22: 20-21, Coming soon

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." 

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen. 

Amen!  A fitting end for this book.  Return quickly, Jesus.  Even if you (like Aslan) call all times "soon", we poor mortal do not.

For further thought: Little is said about the true nature of Eternity. What will it be like? If there was work in Eden before the fall and if there is a new heaven and new earth described here, then what will be the goals and mission of the members of this new city?

Revelation 21, New Heaven and Earth

After the white throne judgement and the lake of fire, the universe is started anew, with a purpose far beyond the mere Paradise in Genesis.

Revelation 21: 1-4, The new heaven and the new earth

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 

Why the remark about the sea? (As Tim Hall commented earlier, on a different passage, the sea most likely represents chaos and fear.) Finally we begin to undo the result of the Fall, reversing it and then going past it to better things.

The holy city is described as the New Jerusalem and the "bride" of God.  (In Rev 19:7 the bride is presumably the Church, the people of God.)

Note, in this chapter and the next, the many promises which come with the new city.  This New Jerusalem is not the angels-and-harps stereotype prevalent in many churches. The location is not some far away place in the sky, but on a new physical earth, within a new universe.

Revelation 21: 5-8, All things new!

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." 

He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.  He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." 

The Alpha and Omega says that we should continue in drinking from the water of life, enduring through the pain, to inherit this coming kingdom.

What does it mean to make all things new?  Heaven will not merely undo the Fall but go beyond it.

The judgement for those who persisted in sin is dismissal into the "second death".

Revelation 21: 9-10, The new City

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  

Again, the New Jerusalem is called the Bride of the Lamb.  Throughout the New Testament, the "bride" of God has been a community, the universal church of believers, making up the new kingdom of God. Is it this community that is being described here?

Revelation 21: 11-21, Description of the new Jerusalem

It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 

It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.  There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.  The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.  The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.  He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick by man's measurement, which the angel was using.  The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.  

The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,  the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.  The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. 

The city is described as large, dramatic, over a thousand mile across. It bears gates and foundations that reflect the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve closest followers of Jesus, emphasizing a historical continuity with the Messianic promises to Israel.

What would have been the reaction of John's readers to this description? How do these measurements compare with the world of John's day?

From the NIV footnotes: 12,000 stadia is, about 1,400 miles (about 2,200 kilometers); 144 cubits is about 200 feet (about 65 meters) and the precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain.

Revelation 21: 22-27, The new temple

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.  

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.  On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.  The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.  Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

This new city needs no temple and no lights, as God provides it all.

Contrast the statement of the "glory & honor of the nations" with the laments about Babylon in chapter 18.

What is the requirement for city membership? What will happen to the nations?  (It won't happen before this time!)

Revelations 20, The Millennium

The armies of Babylon have been destroyed and the people of God invited to a wedding banquet.

Revelation 20: 1-3, The devil thrown into the Abyss

And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.  He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.  He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. 

In the midst of the destruction of Babylon, we have Satan thrown into an abyss. Why isn't the devil completely destroyed?  Why must he be set free for a short time?

There is a cyclical structure to the last few chapters, with Babylon or Satan defeated, only to be discussed again and defeated again.

Revelation 20: 4-6, The first resurrection & the Millennium

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 

Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. 

There appears to be two resurrections, one a thousand years later. Why is there a millennium?  Are all Christians part of this group?  Or just those who have been martyred? A lot is left unsaid....

What is the second death?  

Revelation 20: 7-10, One last try

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth--Gog and Magog--to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.  They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.  And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 

The thousand years pass in a single sentence.  Satan is given one last chance.  Then he is tossed into eternal fire. (Why must it be eternal?  Why is he tortured forever?)

Gog and Magog occur in a prophesy of Ezekiel.  See Ezekiel 38-39.  Here they seem to represent the nations that have always been resistant to God.

Revelation 20: 11-15, The great white throne

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.  

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.  The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 

Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.  If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

A final judgement occurs before a great white throne. Although the Messiah Jesus brings salvation as a gift, through God's grade (Ephesians 2: 8-9) this judgement is based on what one has done in their life.

The judgement includes a Book of Life ... and apparently names are either in the book or not....

What will Hell be like?  Are souls destroyed in this burning lake? Is there a reason for people to stand before the throne? Do they get to react to God and Eternity?  Again, the passage is quick and cryptic. One suspects that not even the author had details -- or that details are not important.

The next chapter is much more uplifting to me, for it is about what happens after the earth and sky are dismissed!

Revelation 19, The Last Battle

Babylon has been destroyed and the earth laments the passing of its great decadent city. Now the final battle is at hand.

Revelation 19: 1-5, Rejoice!

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants."

And again they shouted: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever." 

The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: "Amen, Hallelujah!" 

Then a voice came from the throne, saying: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!" 

Restoration begins with condemnation of the prostitute world system of Babylon. The citizens of heaven rejoice in the demise of this system and look forward to the system that will replace it.

Revelation 19: 6-8, The wedding supper announced

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.  Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) 

There is to be a wedding banquet in heaven and millions are invited.

Revelation 19: 9-10, Invitation to the wedding

Then the angel said to me, "Write: `Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God." 

At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." 

All the citizens of the kingdom of God are invited to this supper. John is overjoyed enough to start to worship the angel and is warned away. (This seems to be a strange act for such a devout Jew as John!) The angel identifies himself as a "fellow servant" of Jesus.

I am not sure of the final sentence in this paragraph: "for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy". A recent revision of the NIV rephrases this as "For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus."

Revelation 19: 11-16, The white horse and its rider

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 

The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. 

The rider on the white horse is called "Faithful and True" and also "The Word of God." In context, this is another set of titles for Jesus. This image of Jesus has a tattoo on his thigh: "King of Kings, Lord of Lords."

What does it mean to wear a robe "dipped in blood"?

The "iron scepter" quote in verse 15 is from Psalm 2:9, a passage about the Messiah.

Revelation 19: 17-18, A supper of flesh…

And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great." 

Here the great supper of God is described as a feast on the bodies of those who helped Babylon. This is presumably a different type of feast than the wedding banquet mentioned earlier!

Revelation 19: 19-21, The capture of the beast and the false prophet

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.  But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. 

The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

The battle is decisive; the demonic beings are thrown into the fiery lake and the rest, the kings and armies, are killed. But little else is said here about this final battle. The result is anticlimactic; it is done.

In the next passage we are introduced to the new heaven and the new earth.

The Mark of the Beast

On Sundays we move away from our regular study of a New Testament and look, instead, at some related topics.  Today, Christmas Day, I look at the number 666, the so-called Mark of the Beast. The first half of this post is serious and scholarly.  But the second half is not....

The Greek Numeral System

The single number, 666, appearing in Revelation 13:18, has stimulated untold attempts to specifically link an individual to The Antichrist (or "beast") of Revelation. Although the NIV footnotes say that the Greek text allows this number to be assigned to "mankind", not necessarily to a particular "man", for two thousand years people have attempted to identify this number.

There is some mathematical history behind all of this.  The Greeks used the letters of their alphabet as their number system, so that the first letter, alpha (α) stood for 1, the second letter, beta (β), stood for 2, and so on, up through iota (ι) which stood for 10.  After that, the values of the letters jumped by ten, so that the next letter after iota, kappa (κ) was assigned the value 20, lambda (λ) was 30 and so on, until reaching 100 with the letter rho (ρ). At this point, the numerical values of the individual letters jumped again, increasing by one hundred each time, going from sigma (σ), equal to 200, to omega (ω) equal to 800.  To make all this work, the Greeks dug up some ancient letters so that san (ϡ) represented 900. To count past 1000, the Greeks re-used the letters with additional markings (see here.)

In the passage in Revelation, the Greek number is the three letters, χξϛ, which is translated into English as 666.

One of the effects of the alphabet also playing the role of the numerical system is that every word then has a numerical value. (Replace each letter by the equivalent numeral and then add them up. This is isopsephy.) So the Greeks often played a game, replacing one's name with the associated number. Friends shared their numbers with each other and did computations to see if they were compatible. (See amicable numbers, for example.) When a boy was infatuated with a girl, he might scribble his loved one's number on his slate or in the dirt.  Scrawled in the ruins of Pompeii is a Greek sentence that translates as "I love her whose number is 545."

In this way, the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Jesus (Yeshua, Joshua), written as

ι η σ ο υ σ

(iota-eta-sigma-omicron-upsilon-sigma),

had value 10+8+200+70+400+200 = 888. If the number 7 represented perfection (for example, according to Genesis 1, the world was created in 7 days), then 8 was even greater and the number 888 represented one beyond perfection (777).

If this seems strange to us, the number 8 in Chinese numerology represents good luck and the number 888 represents triple fortune.  Google "888" and you will find a list of Chinese restaurants and take-outs! (There is one near you....)

So if Jesus is 888 and if 7 (or 777) represents perfection, then 6 represented falling short of perfection and so represents failure and evil. Therefore 666 is triply evil!

Apparently the Hebrew version of the Greek name, Caesar Nero, added up to 666, but to get that count, one had to translate the Greek into Hebrew and then use an equivalent number system in Hebrew. And this also required that one use an unusual spelling of Caesar and go from Greek to Hebrew to reach the Greek number  χξϛ. (Merrill Tenney, Interpreting Revelation, p. 19.) For some of us (including Merrill Tenney) this is a bit of a stretch.

If English were Greek

We can play this game in English. The Greeks used their alphabet as the number system. If the modern alphabet were also used as our number system, in the same manner that the Greeks did, here is how it would be used:

A=1

B=2

C=3

...

I=9

J=10 

(now we begin to jump by ten at each letter)

K=20

...

R=90

S=100 

(now we begin to jump by one hundred at each letter)

T=200

U=300

...

Y=700

Z=800

We would write numbers using the various letters, writing 666 as xof. (We might write the year 2016 using a capital letters to represent multiples of 1000, so that 2016 is B (2000) + j (10) + f (6); thus 2016 = Bjf. Similarly 2017 = Bjg.)

But since letters have a second function as numerals, each English word could then be assigned a number, the sum of the numbers associated with the letters of the word. For example, my name, Ken Smith, would be (20+5+50)+(100+40+9+200+8) = 432. So, if my students wanted to grumble about me secretly, they might say, "Old 4-3-2 gave a hard exam, didn't he?" (Still, I am not the beast!  Even if I use my full name, Kenneth Smith, it comes out to 695.)

We could play this game with English names, hunting for a name adding up to 666.  But I have been unsuccessful in making this work. Pick your villain, none of the names add up to 666.  Adolph Hitler is 443, Ronald Reagan is 389, Barack Obama is 231, Donald Trump is 814.

Of course, 666 could be interpreted differently.  For example, Ronald Wilson Reagan has 6,6,6 letters in each name. But evangelicals Christians in the 1980s seemed to want to view Kissinger (339), not Reagan, as the antichrist!

Of course, maybe this is just making the problem too complicated.  If xof represents 666, then so does fox.  So Fox is the beast!

You heard it first here!!  The beast that helps the antichrist is (drumroll)

Fox News!

:-)