The Bible is Tied Together

 November 24. The Bible is tied together.

Did anyone ever do the “Walk Through the Bible” event? The value of such a thing is to see all the connections in the Bible. Almost everything stated in the Bible is tied to somewhere else. One of the least used study helps are those notes in the margins or middle, where there are references to other passages about that passage.

So I am going to tie together three passages; the first two for about 10 minutes and then the last, going to my slides of Turkey to show the connections.

II Chronicles 36

We already had this lesson the last time I taught, three weeks ago.

Josiah the last good, righteous king, died in battle with Egypt. His son Jehoahaz became king, and a bad one.

The King of Egypt took over in Jerusalem, carried off Jehoahaz (a trophy), and made his brother Eliakim king and changed his name to Jehoiakim.

Jehoiakim was evil. After years of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Chaldeans) was the military power and carried him away, making his eight-year-old son Jehoiachin the king. He was also evil (at eight?) and Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, the king.

Zedekaih did not want to submit to Nebuchadnezzar as Jeremiah the prophet told him to, and he was taken off in chains also. That was the end.

Read II Chronicles 36:15-21.

From Wikipedia: The three main deportations to Babylon occurred around 605 BCE, 597 BCE, and 586 BCE. The first deportation, which included the prophet Daniel, happened after the Battle of Carchemish. The second, involving the prophet Ezekiel, followed a rebellion and the capture of King Jehoiachin. The final and largest deportation was a result of the total destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by Nebuchadnezzar II. (605-535 is considered the 70 years of captivity)

Could something like this happen in the U.S.? How does it relate to us?

No, the U.S. is not Israel. Yes, in that we are not immune to becoming weak militarily.

No, because God has a different plan for Gentiles, shown in Revelation.

Yes, because the final judgment in Revelation will be awful (even if the church is delivered from it)

No, because this was prophesied to happen for many years prior and the Israelites continue to be apostates (not just doing wrong but believing wrong). Gentiles were part of God’s plan through Israel; Romans 15. That the Jews were dispersed meant they would interact with Gentiles throughout the world and God used that in the book of Acts.

This event was the turning point in Israel/Judah’s history.

The Jews were dispersed throughout the Middle East, Persia (Iran), Turkey, Mesopotamia, and later Greece/Rome.

That meant they set up their cultures widely. One of those places was Ephesus.

Read Acts 19

(From Wikipedia) Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities; her worship spread throughout ancient Greece, with her multiple temples, altars, shrines, and local veneration found everywhere in the ancient world. Her great temple at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, before it was burnt to the ground. Artemis's symbols included a bow and arrow, a quiver, and hunting knives, and the deer and the cypress were sacred to her. Diana, her Roman equivalent, was especially worshipped on the Aventine Hill in Rome, near Lake Nemi in the Alban Hills, and in Campania.[6]

Ephesus is visited and excavated today because it was an important port city in the Roman Empire. Their temple to Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and people came from all over to worship at it, which meant tourism money. From there the gospel went all over Asia (Turkey) and it is likely that the churches in Revelation were started by members from Ephesus (including Colosse). Paul is not recorded as going to any of the other churches or cities. His ministry there was very “successful” but also stirred up trouble, as the riot and the burning of magic books shows. Paganism and the money it brought in were disrupted. Also, the city clerk mentions that news of the riot will get back to Rome and the emperor would get involved, something nobody wanted.

Slides

Godliness and the gospel stir up trouble sometimes. We want everybody to get along, but that does not always happen. When Jesus comes into one’s life, it can’t be the same. Even today, we need as Christians to ask Jesus to stir up our complacency.

That brings us to Revelation 2 and the letter to the Ephesians. John writes, “You’ve gotten into a rut and left the most important love and the love that you had when you were converted.  “Repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”

What does the lampstand (golden candlesticks) mean?

From Got Questions website: “In John’s vision, Jesus Christ stands in the center of the seven candlesticks, in the midst of His people. Christ is always present with His church. A candlestick is not the light itself but the bearer of the light. Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), and, as candlesticks, the church’s mission is to hold that light up for the world to see: “So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (Philippians 2:15–16).”

To remove their lampstand is that their influence will be lost, despite how hard they were working to “look good.” We have seen that in many churches in the world—Methodist, Episcopalians, some Presbyterians, etc. They loved progressive causes and acceptance by the world more than Christ. The Ephesians had their theology and practice “Biblical” but Jesus wanted their hearts to return to Him.

How can we return to our first love, especially now?