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Chapter 4 The Saints
and the Faithful As the Figures in the Communion Loaf Judge So Not To Be Judged For if
we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 1 Corinthians
11:31 By Steve Santini
March, 2019 Have you ever wondered why Christians are lacking in confidence and health? The apostle Paul provided the answer about two thousand years ago. He wrote that those of the Corinthian church had become weak and sickly because they had failed to discern the Lord's body. In the earlier context of the admonition Paul wrote that the things he was to write were comparative. Then before he admonished the church to discern the Lord's body he figuratively compared it to the loaf of communion bread. To discern means to distinguish between two things. Through various figurative representations appearing within the fabric of scripture, the saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus are revealed as the two things that are to be distinguished in the Lord's body. Paul's rebuke for not discerning
the Lord's body by the representations in the communion loaf runs from the
seventeenth verse to the thirty-fourth verse of the first Corinthian
eleventh chapter. 1 Corinthians 11:17 - 34 17 Now in this
that I declare unto you I
praise you not, that ye come
together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For
first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19 For
there must be also heresies among you, that they
which are approved may be made manifest among you. 20 When ye
come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. 21 For in
eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have
not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in
this? I praise you not. 23 For I
have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord
Jesus the same night in which
he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when
he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my
body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After
the same manner also he took the
cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood:
this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as
often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew
the Lord's death till he come. 27 Wherefore
whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord. 28 But let
a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he
that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this
cause many are weak and
sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if
we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when
we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned
with the world. 33 Wherefore,
my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. 34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home;
that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order
when I come. According to Paul, when Christians fail to live in a state
of discerning the Lord's body they fall into metal weaknesses and physical
debilitations. For heartfelt seeking Christians this admonition in first
Corinthians commands understandings of the representations in communion's
bread and blood to bring forth individual and communal wholeness. Understanding begins with the definition of the word discerning in the phrase "not discerning the Lord's body" in verse twenty-nine. The Greek word
translated discerning is diakrino. It
means to distinguish between two things.1 The Greek word klao translated break
in the phrase And when he had given thanks, he brake it,
supports the idea of two parts of the Lord's body. Its definition emphasizes
breaking in two parts as a straight line broken by deflection and a shoot
broken off of a plant.2
Likewise, the Greek word sunerchomai translated come
together in verses twenty, twenty-two and thirty-three of the section
supports the idea of two parts to the Lord's body. In Hellenistic culture sunerchomai was
frequently used of the consummation of a marriage contract.3 The
word was employed in Matthew's gospel to place the time of Mary's conception
of Jesus as before she and Joseph "came together."(Mt 1:18) In light of these understandings, what are the two parts of
the Lord's body? The interpretation comes forward when the basic principle of
contextual analysis is applied. In the opening of this Corinthian chapter the
apostle Paul points out cultural differences between a worshipping man and a
worshipping woman. Be ye
followers of me, even as I also am of
Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all
things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. But I would have you know, that the head of every
man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: 1 Corinthians 11:1-5 Comparisons When the scope of the Pauline epistles is considered, this section appears to be understood as a figurative comparison rather than literal instruction. In the closing verse of this section Paul confirmed that the section was figurative rather than literal when he declared that the custom of a woman covering her head during prayers was not a custom they were to observe:: But if
any man seem to be contentious, we have no such
custom, neither the churches of God. 1 Corinthians 11:16 In
these introductory verses of this eleventh chapter of Paul's first Corinthian
letter on the covered woman and the uncovered man, Paul states that what
follows is comparative by employing the Greek adverb kathos translated as and meaning, more fully, comparatively.4 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and
keep the ordinances, as I delivered them
to you. 1 Corinthians
11:2 In
light of this, a more comprehensive translation would be: Now I
praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the
ordinances I comparatively delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:2 In
this opening section Paul is comparing what is culturally true to spiritual
truths that are in accordance with figurative usages of the collective nouns man and woman. When
Paul introduced the chapter's later section regarding communion he connected
it with this comparative earlier section regarding the figurative man and
woman by the usage of the Greek conjunction kai meaning and or also. For I
have received of the Lord that which also(kai) I
delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 1 Corinthians 11:23 The Barley and the Wheat/The Man and the
Woman What
then are the two constituents in the loaf of bread that figuratively
correspond to the man and woman in the first
section of the chapter? They are barley seed and wheat seed. Malted barley
provides the medium for its accompanying yeast spores to grow and wheat is
ground to flour for the bread dough. The Hebrews knew barley seed as a
masculine entity and wheat seed as a feminine entity in accordance with each
word's particular grammatical gender. In Genesis, when the Lord said to the
serpent that he would "put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed" he spoke of the serpent's seed in the masculine gender and
spoke of the woman's seed with the same word in its feminine gender. (Gen 3:15) And in the Hebrew language the
words for the wheat plant and its seed are in the feminine gender while the
word for the barley plant is in the feminine gender but its seed is uniquely
in the masculine gender.5 In the ancient Middle East
barley was recognized as the food of, for and from the gods. The ancient
Egyptians believed that their god Osiris gave them the gift of barley. During
their Seker rites, statues of Osiris adorned with
sprouted barley were paraded through cities to signify his power to initiate
new life.6 The Chaldeans and later
Babylonians honored their primary deity, Marduk,
during their fall festival celebrating the planting of barley and during
their spring festival celebrating its harvest. As a contrasting
juxtaposition, the rulers and citizenry were ceremonially humbled in the
presence of Marduk's image during the fall
festival. This belief in barley as a representation of the gods spread to the
later Greco-Roman cultures in their religious custom of sprinkling barley on
sacrifices to the gods.7 These ancient cultures also
believed that the spirit of a god would inhabit a certain soul. Belteshazzar, believed "the spirit of the holy gods" was
in Daniel.7(Dan. 4:9-18) In this verse, the Hebrew word translated holy is translated as saint
in six of its thirteen usages in scripture and in the Septuagint translation of
the Hebrew text, the Greek masculine gendered agios meaning saint is utilized. Jesus quoted a Davidic psalm
pertaining to these gods when the Judeans in Jerusalem accused him of
claiming divine status. Jesus
answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he
called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be
broken; John 10:34-35 The Old Testament book of Judges
associates this belief in the gods figuratively with barley. When the Midianites, Amalekites and
other armies from the east of Israel had occupied the land and taken its
bounty as their own, Gideon rose up to lead Israel against them. For the
decisive battle he selected only three hundred men according to the Lord's
instructions. Gideon and his three hundred men encamped on a hill overlooking
the vast armies of the East. That night Gideon and his servant went down to
survey the situation. This is what they experienced. And it
came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto
him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant
down to the host: And thou shalt hear what they
say; and afterward shall thine hands be
strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he
down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of
the armed men that were in
the host. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in
the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by
the sea side for multitude. And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream
unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of
barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and
came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent
lay along. And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of
Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God
delivered Midian, and all the host. And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling
of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and
returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath
delivered into your hand the host of Midian. Judges 7:9-15 Later, Gideon ordered his men to
equip themselves with torches, trumpets and pitchers. He then set them in the
hills above the encamped enemy. On Gideon's signal his men broke their
pitchers exposing the flaming torches, blew their trumpets and cried, "The
sword of the Lord and of Gideon." In fear the armies of the East set upon one
and another and fled, eventually to be driven, in decimation, from Israel.
This fear that drove the armies of the East to destruction was based on the
ancient Enochian prophecy about the gods to come
from heaven with fire to judge the souls of men. (Jud. 14,15; 2 Thess. 1:6-9) As it appears, barley was commonly
associated with the spiritual realm of the gods in the cultures of the
earliest millennia. As the leaven from barley seed caused the dough to rise,
in the Hebrew culture the spiritual realm's initiating force was figuratively
associated with masculinity. In regards to the dough, the feminine
gendered wheat seed was used figuratively as a representation of the soul.
Jesus employed this correspondence between a wheat seed and soul analogically
when he addressed his disciples about his upcoming glorification. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much
fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life
eternal. John 12:24-25 Here wheat in the twenty-fourth verse
corresponds to life in the
twenty-fifth verse. The first two Greek words translated life in the verse are the feminine gender psuche. The words life and eternal ending the verse are also in the Greek feminine gender.
In the majority of its usages in the King James Version psuche is translated soul. In ancient cultures soul, as a
feminine entity, was considered the regenerative force of humankind. However,
as the yeast derived from barley was the catalyst that caused the wheat dough
to rise, the masculine seed initiated the growth unto regeneration of the
women's seed. In the same fashion it is the spirit of truth indwelling the
saints that initiates the expansions of soul through understandings that
strengthen its faith unto regeneration into life eternal during the Lord's
coming. Paul, a saint gifted with the spirit of truth, stated it in this
manner when he wrote to the church in Thessalonica: For this
cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word
of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God,
which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 Moses instituted the symbolism of
masculine/feminine unity through the combination of barley and wheat in the
risen loaf of bread. As previously stated, the barley seed was distinguished
from the wheat seed by classifying the barley seed grammatically as masculine
and wheat seed as feminine. He instituted Passover and the attached Feast of
Unleavened Bread that commenced when the first ripe barley seeds were ready
for harvest as the beginning of the new religious year. Then, he required
fifty days from the priesthood's wave offering of the firstfruits
of barley until the celebration of that year's wheat harvest with offering of
two leavened loaves on the day of Pentecost. 8 Leaven In
scripture the word leaven itself is
figuratively used to designate a doctrine and its administration. For
example, Jesus warned his disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees and
then metaphorically equated leaven with their doctrine.(Mt 16:6,12) On the
other hand, when referring to the kingdom of God, Jesus likened it to a woman
who hid leaven in three measures of meal(wheat flour9), till
the whole was leavened.(Mt 13:33) In his
Galatian epistle, the Apostle Paul used the word leaven critically when referring to
the Old Testament law in comparison to the law of faith. Christ
is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit
wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh
by love.Ye did run well; who did
hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump. Galatians
5:4-9 Paul
also allegorically compared Israel's relationship to God as a bondwoman under
the law and a subsequent freewoman by faith in Christ. In this Galatian section Paul identifies the event and its time
and place by which Israel agreed to become a
bondwoman. Which things are an allegory: for these are
the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth
to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage
with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother
of us all. Galatians 4:24-26 Chronologically,
Moses' declaration of the covenant from Sinai occurred on the first Shavout or, as later called, the Day of Pentecost. It was
on this first Pentecost that Israel agreed to the terms of her servitude as a
bondwoman. And
Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the
judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the
words which the LORD hath said will we do. Exodus 24:3 The book of Ruth is
traditionally read on Pentecost in Jewish communities. The book is a
historical record divinely orchestrated as a prophetic parable. The record linked the barley harvest with
the wheat harvest. So she
kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and
of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.Ruth
2:23 Ruth began her relationship with
Boaz at the beginning of the barley harvest like a handmaid or, as otherwise translated, a bondwoman. As the relationship progressed she became betrothed to
Boaz and then married to him. In a similar manner Israel became a bondwoman
on the first Pentecost in Sinai then centuries later betrothed on a
Pentecost. On that Pentecost, in Jerusalem, Jesus' apostles and disciples and
about three thousand others accepted the Lord's promise and received the gift
from the Holy Spirit sealing the betrothal agreement for consummate union
with him and his saints at his glorious return. When he
shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that
believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.2 Thessalonians 1:10 Ephesians The Man and the Woman/The Saints and the
Faithful in Christ Jesus The Apostle Paul's epistle to
the Ephesians is considered as the capstone of his revelation of Christ and
the church. In the epistle's fifth chapter, Paul compares
the relationship of the collective spiritual man and the collective spiritual
woman of the Lord's body to that of a husband and a wife. This comparitive section
contains four comparative Greek words and nine usages of the four
words. Kathos
is one of the four. It is employed in the twenty-fifth verse of
the chapter. In the King James translation it reads: Husbands, love your wives, even as(kathos) Christ also loved the church, and gave himself
for it; Ephesians 5:25 When the Greek words translated husbands and wives are considered further as a comparison, this phrase
harmonizes with the figurative comparison of the man and the woman
introducing the eleventh chapter of Corinthians. The Greek word translated
husbands is aner.
In the New Testament it is translated man
one hundred and fifty-six times and husband
fifty times. The Greek word translated wives is gune. It is translated woman one hundred and twenty-six times
and wife ninety-two times. The
Greek possessive pronoun translated your,
modifying gune
that is translated as wives, is not
in the majority of the Greek texts. In light of this, the phrase could be
more suitably translated as "Men love women as(kathos) Christ also loved the
church, and gave himself for it." With any formal letter, the salutation identifies
to whom the letter is addressed. In the Ephesian
salutation Paul addressed two differing groups that he figured as men and
women in the fifth chapter. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will
of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ
Jesus: Ephesians 1:1 So, as a result, the twenty-fifth verse of the
fifth chapter would be understood as "saints love the faithful as Christ also
loved the church and gave himself for it." In the epistle, there is an alternating usage of
the first person plural pronoun we
and the second person plural pronoun you
throughout the context of Ephesians. This demonstrates the interrelationship of
the saints and the faithful that comprise the Lord's one body. For example,
since the pronoun we appears in the third through the twelfth
verse of the first chapter, the section's subject pertains to characteristics
of the saints. The shift from the first person plural pronoun we to the second person plural pronoun
you between the twelfth and the
thirteenth verse changes the subject from the saints as the figurative man to
the faithful as the figurative woman in their interrelationship within his
one body. That we
should be to the praise of his glory, who first
trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that
holy Spirit of promise, Ephesians
1:12-13 Paul not only introduced the faithful in Christ
Jesus in the thirteenth verse, he also introduced the concept of marriage in
it. In the phrase "ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" the Greek
word translated word sealed was
used of the visible sealing of a contract promising the future fulfillment of
the contract. In the Eastern cultures when a son was ready to marry, his
father commissioned his wife to seek an appropriate match for the son. When
an apparent match was found and the betrothal contract was negotiated the
groom's mother sealed it by a gift that was given to the prospective bride. Two verses later, while still addressing those
faithful in Christ Jesus by the usage of the second person possessive plural
pronoun your, Paul wrote: Wherefore I also, after I heard of your
faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Ephesians 1:15 The Greek word translated love in this verse is agape.
Lexicons note that it was used as the type love between a husband and wife in Greek culture. 10 It
becomes interesting in this context that plural form of agape was used to identify the communion feasts in the early
church.(Jud. 1:12) In the second chapter, within the context of the
one new man made of two, Paul twice employed the Greek word eggus that became translated as nigh in the King James translation. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13 And came and preached peace to you which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh. Ephesians 2:17 The word describes a close
or intimate relationship.11
Forms of the word are defined as the betrothed state of either a bride or
groom.12 As Pau's usage of the word diakrino in the context of the
Lord's one body implies two constituencies in his body, Paul's Ephesian epistle confirms the proposition in the
following verses. For he
is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace; Ephesians 2: 14,15 There were three walls of partition in the
temple. The first partition separated the priests' court from the men's
court. The second was a partition between the men's court and the women's
court and the third was an outer partition that separated the Gentiles from
the Jews worshipping inside the temple. Of the three partitions the middle
wall was the partition between the court of the men and the court of the
women. This broken down middle wall is a central figure
in the Apostle Paul's revelation of the great mystery. This wall of the law
was that which kept Israel as a bondwoman. With the wall broken down Israel,
as figurative daughters, was free to enter into a betrothal arrangement in
preparation for eventual marriage. Jesus' sacrifice not only broke down the
middle wall between the court of the women and the court of the men it also
brought Gentiles who believed into the same state of being nigh with the Jews
who believed. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13 The "ye who sometimes were far off" are the
Gentiles who by faith had been grafted into the root along with those
believing Jews who had, during the early years of the church, become the
first to be betrothed.(Rom. 1:16, 11:16,17) Just as tree lives by its life giving sap
coursing reciprocally between the root and the branches, the one body
functions with the spirit of his atoning blood coursing likewise throughout
this one new man of twain. This is the blood of individual and collective
wholeness that the saints and faithful drink together. And this organic unity
generates confidence and health much like that of a husband's love for his
wife and a wife's admiration for her husband. Ephesians 2:11-22 When the scriptures that figuratively depict the
saints and the faithful are considered as the lens through which the section
is viewed, doors of understanding open into the great mystery of Christ and
the church. 11Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the
flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which
is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to
make in himself of twain one new man, so
making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in
one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which
were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by one
Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and
of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the
Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit.Ephesians 2 Two figurative verses of scripture regarding the
saints and the faithful in the eleventh chapter of Romans provide a
preliminary framework for understanding this Ephesian
section. In them the apostle Paul utilized an analogy to build the case for
an inclusion of Gentiles as recipients of the same promises once made only to
Israel. For if the firstfruit
be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be
holy, so are the
branches. Romans 11:16 The firstfruit is the barley since it was considered the annual firstfriuit of all that year's subsequent harvests. The lump is the leavened dough. The next phrase completes the figurative analogy. The root corresponds to the firstfruit of barley and the rooted branches correspond to the leavened lump. An extension of analogous figures unto the two in his one body would proceed like this: firstfruit/lump = root/branches = men/women = saints/faithful. The next verse brings in the Gentiles of faith who were grafted into the root as branches with the Jews who remained by faith after their unbelieving Jewish brethren had been broken off. And if some of the branches be broken off,
and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them
partakes of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Romans 11:17 This paradigm of verses sixteen and seventeen in Romans chapter eleven contains two different pairs. In the first phrase reading "For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy" they are the saints and faithful represented as the leavened lump. In the second phrase reading "and if the root be holy, so are the branches," the saints and faithful are again paired as the root and branches respectively. A different pairing that comprises the branches emerges when verse seventeen is taken into consideration. Here, as one, the Jews of faith and Gentiles of faith become the faithful in Christ Jesus. With a view through this paradigm of these two different pairs of faithful Jews and Gentiles and of saints and faithful, verse fourteen of Ephesians' second chapter becomes the pivotal verse of the section at hand. For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us Ephesians 2:14 There are two actions in this verse that are
connected by the conjunction and.
The first action concludes the previous three verses and the second action
introduces the subsequent eight verses. The first action, hath made both one, pertains to the
Gentiles of faith being grafted in on equal footing with the Jews of faith
from the commonwealth of Israel. The second and ultimate action, hath broken down the middle wall of
partition, pertains to the saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus being
joined as one like a loving husband and wife in his one body. When this
twofold fourteenth verse is placed in its twelve verse context, chapter two
becomes stunningly brilliant. 11Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the
flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which
is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were far off(Gentiles) are made nigh(betrothed like
the faithful Jews) by the blood of Christ.
14 For he is our peace, who hath made
both(faithful Jews and faithful Gentiles) one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition(the middle wall separating the men's court and
women's court in the temple i.e. saints and faithful become as one) between us;(the words "between us"
are not in the Greek texts) 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to
make in himself of twain(saints and faithful) one new man,(same as the Lord's
one body in 1 Corinthians 11:24,29) so
making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both(saints and
faithful) unto God in one body (same as the Lord's one body in 1 Corinthians
11:24,29) by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which
were afar off,(Gentiles) and to them that were(past tense) nigh.(bondmaid Jews) 18 For through him we both(saints
and faithful) have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore ye(faithful- former Jews and
former Gentiles) are no more strangers(Gentiles) and foreigners,(Jews)13 but fellowcitizens
with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the
Lord: 22 In whom ye(faithful-
former Jews and former Gentiles) also are builded
together(with the saints) for an habitation of God through the Spirit. The Jews who believed the scriptures of the Old
Testament knew they were to be one day united with the Lord and his hosts as
administrators of the earth according to the promises first made to Abraham.(Rm. 4:13) However, not to be found in the Old Testament
was the fact that the Gentiles who became faithful were to be grafted in with
the faithful Jews, together, as fellowcitizens with
the saints in the Lord's one body. As Paul concluded after he declared the
grafting in of the faithful Gentiles: O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways pastfinding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord?
or who hath been his counsellor?
Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Romans 11:33-36 Judge or Be Judged In first Corinthians chapter eleven the Apostle
Paul closed his section about discerning the communion loaf with a stern
admonition. 28 But let
a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he
that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh
damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 30 For this
cause many are weak and
sickly among you, and many sleep. 31 For if
we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when
we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned
with the world. 33 Wherefore,
my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. 34 And if
any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation.
And the rest will I set in order when I come. The King James translation of the thirty-first
verse makes Paul's admonition difficult to understand. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should
not be judged. Paul spent the fourteenth chapter of Romans
admonishing believers against judging one another yet here it seems he
exhorts those of the fellowship to judge themselves otherwise they will be
judged. Had the King James' translators been consistent
in their translation of the section, this verse would be in harmony with the
context and simply understood by the reader. The word translated judge is diakrino, the same as the word
translated discerning two verses
earlier in verse twenty-nine, but the word translated judged in the verse is a proper translation of the Greek word krino.
Accordingly the translation should be: 31 For if we would distinguish between
ourselves, we should not be judged. When done, the verse comes into harmony with the
immediate context, the proximate context, the remote contexts and the entire
scope of scripture. For, when we eat the bread of his one body with
understanding, we eat the word of life that is in Christ Jesus. And the
sustenance of this word nourishes confidence and health for he, the Lord, is
the one covering the expanse, who, in the beginning, as Christ, the lord of
the holy gods, made the perfect soul for the man named Adam. Then in the
fullness of time he came and dwelt on earth in the second perfect soul made
for the man to be named Jesus. This is he who will come again as Christ Jesus
our Lord to achieve the original divine intent for the faithful to be
consummately joined with the holy gods of heaven as the inheritors of the new
earth. With this in mind, like the prophet Jeremiah once wrote, the eaten loaf
of the word becomes the joy and rejoicing of our hearts: Thy
words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and
rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
Jeremiah 15:16 Footnotes 1. JosephThayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, #1318: Timothy Friberg, Barabra Friberg, & Neva F Miller, A Greek-English Lexicon. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, #6297, Henry George Liddell & Robert Scott, Greek-English Lexicon, #9419 2. Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Sir H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon,κλάω 3. Friberg, Friberg & Miller, #25764 4. Friberg, Friberg & Miller, #14592 5. James
Strong, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
of the Bible, Hb. #8184 6. The Egyptians priests had a pregnancy test that was used to determine the gender of a forthcoming child. A pregnant woman urinated on wheat seeds and barley seeds. If the wheat seeds sprouted the child was to be a daughter and if the barley seeds sprouted the child was to be a son. NIH - A Timeline of Pregnancy Testing 7. The gods of Israel were the "holy gods" while the gods of the gentile nations were the "false gods" of scripture. 8. The two leavened loaves
waved before the Lord on Pentecost correspond to the two sheepfolds that have
been and will be gathered to him as a result of his former and latter
comings: And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. John 10:16 9. Strong, Gk. #224 10. Liddell, Scott, & Jones, ἀγάπ-η 11. Friberg, Friberg & Miller, #7537 12. Liddell, Scott, & Jones, ἐγγυ^άω, ἐγγύ-η 13. Liddell, Scott, & Jones: stranger ξένος - wanderer
as a guest, foreigner πάροικος - dwelling beside Appendices Facts, Figures and Attributes of the Broken Loaf of His One Body The Middle Wall: Herod's Temple and A Modern Synagogue
Images Chapter 3 The Man and the Covered Woman in 1 Corinthians 11 The Pauline Analogies |
