An Old Testament CHRISTmas

The Scripture reading for today begins in Genesis 3:1-24.

01. The Virgin Birth (Genesis 3:15)

In Genesis 1:1-2:6, the Holy Spirit through Moses records for us the account of creation, with Genesis 2:7-25 focusing on the creation of the first man and woman. Then we see in Genesis 3:1-24 the Holy Spirit records for us the temptation and fall of man. Adam and Eve both sinned, and when God curses Satan, we find tucked neatly in this account an amazing verse, that truly shows us the beginning of the CHRISTmas story.

If you could look again at Genesis 3:15 we that the Hebrew word for “enmity” is (H342) אֵיבָה ʾêybâh^[1] and it means personal hostility^[2] between two parties.^[3] What God is saying here in Genesis 3:15 is that there will be hatred and hostility between Satan and the seed of Eve. We then see that there is going to be a Saviour who is going to be born who will destroy Satan (1 John 3:8-10). But if you look more at Genesis 3:15, we see that it tells us more about the Saviour that is going to be born who will destroy Satan. Look at where it says “and her Seed”. In the Hebrew, the noun “seed” (H2233 זֶרַע zeraʿ^[4]) is written in the masculine singular, which is in reference to semen. Notice that it doesn’t say “Your seed and Adams…” Now we all learned many years ago that women have eggs and men have seed, so why did the Holy Spirit have Moses used the masculine noun for “seed” here in Genesis 3:15? Because it is prophesying that there will be a miraculous virgin birth! Remember that God said this in Genesis 3:15 after Adam and Eve had sinned, allowing death to enter all of creation. Though they were sentenced to die (Genesis 3:19; cf. Genesis 2:16-17) God in His mercy gave a promise of redemption through the One who would be born of a virgin (Genesis 3:15). He then sacrificed an animal to cover Adam and Eve’s sin and nakedness (Genesis 3:21).

About 600 years before Jesus, Jeremiah the prophet prophesied the virgin birth as well in Jeremiah 31:22. Isaiah would further elaborate on the virgin birth of the coming Messiah about 700 years before Jesus came in Isaiah 7:14. Isaiah tells us that the name of the coming Messiah is going to be “Immanuel”, which is important because if He had not been Immanuel, which means “God with us”, He could not have been Jesus the Saviour! The word for “sign” in Isaiah 7:14 is the Hebrew word (H226 אוֹת ʾôwth, ōth^[5]) and it means a signal, a miracle.^[6] There are those critics who state that the word for “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14 just means a “young woman”, so it doesn’t necessarily mean she was a virgin. The word for “virgin” in Isaiah 7:14 is the Hebrew word (H5959) עַלְמָה ʿalmâh and it is true that one of the meanings of this word is for a young woman. But if you look in the Greek Septuagint (the Old Testament written in Greek in Egypt in about 284bc by 70 scholars. The name Septuagint means 70 [LXX]), the Greek word used in Isaiah 7:14 is the same Greek word used in Matthew 1:23 and Luke 1:26-28 in describing Mary as a “virgin”. In the Latin Vulgate translation (which is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations, and ultimately it became the official Latin version of the Bible in the Roman Catholic Church) it says “Hail, full of grace” Luke 1:28 where the Hail Mary prayer is originated

Latin Vulgate Luke 1:28 “And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”

When Erasmus learned Greek and got ahold of the Greek manuscripts, he noted that the Greek translation isn’t what is above, but is “Hail thou that are highly favored” or “Hail thou that has found grace in the sight of God” that is the nature of the passage, much like Noah in Old Testament (cf. Genesis 6:8). This twisting of the words is what is responsible for the whole Roman Catholic Church’s teaching that you have to go through Mary to get to Jesus. They argue, even to this day that Mary is full of grace, meaning she is the container she’s full of God’s grace, she has all of God’s grace, and since we are saved by God’s grace, you cannot get saved unless you get grace. Where do you get grace they say? Through Mary!

The Hail Mary

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.

This is what inspires the Roman Catholic Church to worship Mary. By the way, Mary, contrary to the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching, did not remain a virgin (Matthew 1:24–25). The Bible tells us that Joseph and Mary had other kids (Matthew 12:46-47; Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:2-3; John 2:12; Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:4-5; Galatians 1:19).

The Greek word for “virgin” that is used in Matthew 1:23 and Luke 1:26-28, as well as in Isaiah 7:14 is (G3933) παρθένος parthĕnŏs and it literally means “an unmarried daughter, one who has never engaged in sexual intercourse, virgin, chaste person ^[7]” and it would never be used to describe a woman who was married. This Greek word (G3933) παρθένος parthĕnŏs was used by the Greeks for the Parthenon, the Greek temple to the goddess Athena, which the Greeks described as being a virgin.

Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in Genesis 3:15 in that He was the only person in history not conceived through the seed of a man (Matthew 1:23; Matthew 1:25; Luke 1:27; Luke 1:34). The Jews all would know that a virgin giving birth was in fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 and Jeremiah 31:22, and that it was a sign that the Messiah was now here! The fact that the Messiah would be virgin born was a sign that He was the Son of God, for a virgin giving birth is impossible unless it’s Divine!

The “you” in Genesis 3:15 is Satan who will bruise the heel, trying to trip up the work of Jesus (cf. Luke 04.01-13 | The Temptation of the Messiah part 1 and part 2) and that the seed of the woman, who is Jesus, would bruise the serpents head, dealing a crushing blow not by the woman as Roman Catholicism teaches, but by the seed of the woman. Roman Catholicism teaches that it’s Mary who will crush the head of Satan, as Our Lady of Miraculous Medal appeared to Catherine Laboure in 1830 in Paris, which is now displayed on medals, with Mary depicted as crushing the head of the serpent (see pictures here). That’s not the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-5), which states, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures”.

It was from this very moment in Genesis 3:15 that Satan was awaiting this virgin birth in order to kill this virgin born Babe. This is evidenced throughout time, as Satan has been constantly attacking the Jews, using the Pharaoh while the children of Israel were in Egypt (Exodus 1:1-14:31), to the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8–16; 1 Samuel 30:1-31; Esther 3:1-10:3) to the Nazi’s and Hitler as well as to the present day with the Muslims to try to wipe out the Jewish people, first to try to keep the Messiah from being born, now trying to keep God’s promises to Israel and the Second Coming of the Messiah from being fulfilled. Of course Satan didn’t succeed, but he tried hard to prevent the virgin from bearing a child.

So what we see here is the first verse found in the Bible that proclaims the Gospel “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-5) and without that there is no salvation for mankind!

02. The Tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8-10)

In Genesis 49:1-33, Jacob knows that he is about to die, and he calls all of his sons together, in fact they probably were all lined up in birth order (cf. Genesis 43:33). What Jacob says on his deathbed is prophetic. We pick up the prophecy in Genesis 49:8-10 where he is addressing his 4^th born son (of Leah-Genesis 29:35), Judah.

Genesis 49:8 The name Judah (H3063 יְהוּדָה Y^ehûwdâh^[8]) means, “praise”, which is alluded to when he was named after his birth in Genesis 29:35. “Your father’s children shall bow down before you.” The last part of this verse is indicating that the descendants of Judah will be the kings of Israel.

Genesis 49:9 The symbol of the tribe of Judah later became a Lion, in fact the Lion of Judah is found on the coat of arms of Jerusalem.

Genesis 49:10 The noun “Shiloh” (H7886 שִׁילֹה Shîylôh^[9]) means tranquility or rest, but it is also another name for the Messiah. In Revelation 5:5, John tells us about “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” The Lion of the tribe of Judah is a term of royalty and the scepter is a symbol of authority. We now see that the Messiah is coming from the tribe of Judah, but there is more to this verse! Around 12ad we know from Josephus (The Jewish War 02.08.01) and history that the Romans took away capital punishment from the Jews. In the mind of the Jews, this took away the foundation of their government, which was to be able to put to death those who deserved it. On this day when Rome took capital punishment away from the Jews, we know from history that the Jewish people went out and wept because they believed that the Messiah had not come and they could not understand how God can do this.

Look again at what Jacob prophesied in Genesis 49:10…remember, the noun Shiloh (rest) is another name of Jesus! We know that at this time, Jesus the Messiah was already alive and they did not recognize Him as a boy, and of course, even as a man! Connected to Jacob’s prophesy in Genesis 49:10 is the prophecy by Balaam, where  we see the coming Messiah who will rule mentioned in Numbers 24:17-19 (cf. Psalm 45:6; Isaiah 9:7; Luke 1:32-33; Hebrews 1:8). Jesus tells us that the star is a picture of the Messiah in Revelation 22:16.

03. The Bethlehem Birth (Micah 5:2)

Micah 5:2 states where the Messiah (HaMashiach) is to be born. This Bethlehem is about five miles South of Jerusalem, and its elevation is about 2,460 feet above sea level. There is another Bethlehem, also known as Bethlehem of Zebulun (up by the Sea of Galilee), and mentioned in Joshua 19:15. Bethlehem of Zebulun was closer to where Mary was living in Nazareth (Luke 2:4-7),[10] in fact it was about seven miles northwest of Nazareth. Bethlehem Ephrathah was where Rachel, the wife of Jacob/Israel died (Genesis 35:19; Genesis 48:7). Bethlehem Ephrathah was where Naomi, the mother in law of Ruth was from and where they moved back to after living in Moab, as well as where Ruth met and then married Boaz (Ruth 4:11), who became the great-grandparents of David (Ruth 4:18-22). Bethlehem Ephrathah was where David’s family was from (Ruth 4:17; Ruth 4:21-22; 1 Samuel 16:1; 1 Samuel 17:12; 1 Samuel 17:58; 1 Samuel 20:6; John 7:42). Bethlehem Ephrathah was also known as Bethlehem of Judea (Matthew 2:1). So because Joseph was a direct descendant of Israel’s greatest king (Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 1:27), he had to go to Bethlehem Ephrathah where his family was originally from to “because he was of the house and lineage of David,” (Luke 2:4) “So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.” (Luke 2:3) Although Bethlehem Ephrathah was a small, unimportant village “little among the thousands of Judah” (Micah 5:2), God had said through his prophet Micah that it would produce a ruler in Israel “Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” (Micah 5:2).

It is interesting to note that the only king of Israel that came from Bethlehem Ephrathah was David (who died about 1015bc, but Micah prophesied around 750bc), almost 300 years after David! So the ruler prophesied by Micah who was going to be from Bethlehem Ephrathah could not have been David, but the Messiah!

Micah tells us more about the Messiah being God, “Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” (Micah 5:2) This is a clear statement that it’s not David or any other human, for only God has existed from the days of eternity (Psalm 90:2; Psalm 102:25-27; Proverbs 8:22; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 13:8; 1 John 1:1; Revelation 1:11-18; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 21:6)! The way that this prophesy in Micah 5:2 is written is YHWH talking to this city as if it were a person, which is a common Jewish way.

Now I want to take you back a few verses to Micah 4:8, and remember, there are no chapter breaks in the original manuscripts. Micah 4:8 “tower of the flock” in Hebrew is “Migdal Eder”. In Genesis 35:21, we see that “Then Israel (Jacob) journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.” The “Migdal Eder” or “Tower of the Flock” was a watchtower built for the protection of the flocks against robbers or animals or any thing that could cause a blemish to them. According to Alfred Edersheim in his book The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah, in Book 2, Chapter 6, “this Migdal Eder was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheep ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem.”[11] A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion, that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for Temple-sacrifices,  and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds.[12] These shepherds were not just your ordinary shepherds. They were priestly shepherds who were educated in how the sheep had to be so that they would qualify for the strict restrictions of the sacrificial system.  So it was their job to make sure that none of the animals were hurt, damaged, or blemished. These were the shepherds who the angels appeared to in Luke 2:8-14.

There is a little sign by the North side Rachel’s tomb in Bethlehem today that says “Migdal Eder”. It was in the lower portion of this Migdal Eder/watchtower that the birthing of the lambs would take place. The shepherds would then wrap the newborn lambs in swaddling clothes to protect the body of the lambs which would be offered as sacrifice at the Temple just five miles away in Jerusalem. Wrapped in swaddling cloths to keep the new lambs without spot or blemish, they would be laid in a manger until they had calmed down (cf. Luke 2:7).

Where were these sheep born? In Bethlehem, at Migdal Eder, just like Jesus. Where were these sheep later sacrificed? In Jerusalem, just like Jesus, who was crucified on Mt. Moriah, where David purchased the land from Ornan (1 Chronicles 21:23-24), and also where Solomon built the Temple (2 Chronicles 3:1). John the Baptist declared in John 1:29: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” The Messiah was born in the same place as these sheep, and He died in the same place as these sheep. He was born so that He may die so that we may live (John 10:11; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 3:5). The birth of Jesus was at the perfect God ordained time, place and virgin so that we may live eternally (Galatians 4:4; 1 John 4:9–10).

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^[1] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 11). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

^[2] Whitaker, R., Brown, F., Driver, S. R. (Samuel R., & Briggs, C. A. (Charles A. (1906). The Abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament: from A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles Briggs, based on the lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius. Boston; New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.

^[3] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[4] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 36). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

^[5] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

^[6] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 10). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

^[7] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 777). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

^[8] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 47). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

^[9] Strong, J. (2009). A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 2, p. 115). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

[10] http://www.keyway.ca/gif/twobeth.gif

[11] Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Peabody; Hendrickson, 1993], Bk 2, Ch 6.

[12] Shekelim 7.4 http://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Shekalim.7?lang=en&layout=lines&sidebarLang=all

Luke 11:1-4 | Teach Us To Pray

Luke 11:1–4 In our text today, Dr. Luke gives us a smooth transition from Mary’s right way to worship (Luke 10:38-42) to the right way to pray, with Jesus once again being the teacher.

01. The Question (Luke 11:1)

Those there in attendance with Jesus would have been the Twelve, the Seventy (-two) (Luke 10:1-16), as well as the women (Luke 8:1-3).

Matthew records for us this same model of prayer in Matthew 6:7–15. There are slight variations between the two, but the both basically carry the same idea, though the church has usually adopted the version found in Matthew to recite.

There is no evidence that Jesus meant either form to be a ritual.^[1]

Luke 11:1 “as He was praying in a certain place,” Jesus prayed at every major crossroad event in His life: at the time of His baptism (Luke 3:21), before choosing His disciples (Luke 6:12), He prayed for Simon Peter (Luke 22:32), in the Garden of Gethsemane before His betrayal and arrest (Luke 22:40-44; cf. Hebrews 5:7), and He even prayed on the cross (Luke 23:46)! He often went alone and prayed (Luke 5:16; Luke 9:18), and He also prayed with others around (Luke 9:28-29). After seeing the many times that Jesus prayed, one of His disciples then asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

Nowhere do we have recorded for us in Scripture how John taught his disciples to pray, but obviously from the statement by this disciple, John did teach his disciples how to pray, and this disciple of Jesus, seeing His own example, wanted to learn as well.

02. The Petitions of God (Luke 11:2)

In Matthew 6:6–8, Jesus instructs us that when we pray, we are to “go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”

Luke 11:2 “Our Father” here in the Greek (G3962 Πάτερ) pictures a close familial relationship between a Father and his child, and it is used notwithstanding the age of the child, whether they are young or an adult. By instructing His followers to address God as “Our Father”, Jesus shows them that through the Son of God they are children of God, and that all prayers to the Father go always go through the Son. This was groundbreaking, for in the Old Testament, God was seldom spoken of as a Father, and when He was, it was always in reference to the nation of Israel and not to an individual (cf. Deuteronomy 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Isaiah 63:16; Jeremiah 3:4, Jeremiah 3:19; Jeremiah 31:9; Malachi 1:6; Malachi 2:10). John writes for us that through Jesus, “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:” (John 1:12; cf. Romans 1:7; Romans 8:15; Romans 8:23; Romans 9:4; 1 Corinthians 1:2-3; Galatians 1:4; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:2; Ephesians 1:5; Philippians 1:2; Philippians 4:20; Colossians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:11–13; 2 Thessalonians 1:1–2; 2 Thessalonians 2:16) But we must notice how entirely free from Jewish elements the Prayer is. It is not addressed to the “Lord God of Israel,” nor does it ask for blessings upon Israel.^[2] In “Our Father” we express His nearness to us, while “in heaven” we recognize His distance from us (2 Chronicles 20:6; Psalm 11:4; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Isaiah 66:1; Daniel 2:28; Matthew 5:16; Matthew 10:32).^[3]

Holy, loving familiarity suggests the one; awful (or awesome) reverence the other.^[4]

Here we now come to the first three petitions, which have to do exclusively with God.^[5]

The first petition is “Hallowed be Your name.” (Luke 11:2) means to treat as holy, and with reverence^[6] the name of God. While God commanded Israel to treat His name as holy (Leviticus 10:3; Leviticus 20:3; Leviticus 21:6; Leviticus 22:2; Leviticus 22:32; Isaiah 29:23), they failed to treat His name holy (Ezekiel 36:20–23; Ezekiel 43:7–8; Amos 2:7), though His name will be treated as holy in the future by all (Psalm 145:21; Ezekiel 39:7; Habakkuk 2:14; Revelation 15:4 cf. Philippians 2:10). The Greek word for “Hallowed” is (MSS. ἁγιασθήτω from G37 ἁγιάζω hagiazō) written in the passive, meaning that the His name is made holy amongst us by the power and work of the Holy Spirit in us. Just as the Shekinah, or presence of God made the Temple holy (1 Kings 9:3; 1 Kings 9:7; 2 Chronicles 7:16; 2 Chronicles 7:20; Ezekiel 36:22–23; Ezekiel 39:25), so too are we as Christians, as Paul reminds us that our “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God” (1 Corinthians 6:19; cf. 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:19–22; Hebrews 3:6; 1 Peter 2:4–10). By teaching His disciples to pray by starting out by focusing on God first, Jesus is reminding His disciples that the answers to our prayers are from the God who is in heaven, who is holy, and He is giver of  “Every good gift and every perfect gift” (James 1:17; cf. Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13), most notably, the gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-10).

The second petition is “Your kingdom come” (Luke 11:2) John the Baptist, Jesus, the Twelve, and the Seventy (-two) had been preaching about the coming of God’s kingdom. When a person prays for the coming of the kingdom, he is identifying with the message of Jesus and His followers.^[7] For only those who have been redeemed by the Lamb of God can pray “Your kingdom come”, because the wicked do not want to face the judgment of God while they are still in their sin. By praying “Your kingdom come”, we have to come to the realization that our salvation is not by our own effort, and our response will then be one of where we want to be completely submissive and obedient in every aspect of our life, not just when we are at church. When we pray for “Your kingdom come”, Jesus is instructing us to pray for the His return (Revelation 11:15). When we pray, “Your kingdom come”, not only are we looking forward to God’s rule and reign in this world, but we are also saying that He is to reign in our lives. So by praying this, we are looking forward to that glorious time when God’s Kingdom will be established by the return of Jesus Christ, based on the assurance that God will fulfill all of His promises to His people.

The third petition is “Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.” (Luke 11:2)

Praying for His will to be done provides a good solid foundation for our prayers. When we pray “Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven” we are basically saying that we want God’s will to be done in our life, as well as in the world. Often though, we have it upside down. We desire our will for our lives, and for the world as well. Too often we look we look at prayer like this, we make it out that God is some genie in a lamp, and when we rub it, poof! Our will appears!

Prayer is surrender-surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out a boat hook from a boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.[8]

We need to recognize the importance of conforming our will to His will. We shouldn’t pray for something and then at the end say, “if it be Your will,” if we really don’t mean it. These words are not words just to add to our prayer so that we won’t be embarrassed if we do not get what we want. Prayer is not getting God to do my will; but it is asking that God’s will be done in my life, in my family, in my relationships, at my work, as it is done in Heaven.

These first three petitions, which have to do exclusively with God…occur in a descending scale—from Himself down to the manifestation of Himself in His kingdom; and from His kingdom to the entire subjection of its subjects, or the complete doing of His will.^[9]

03. The Petitions of Man (Luke 11:3-4)

The fourth petition is “Give us day by day our daily bread.” (Luke 11:3) The “bread” here seems to involve both physical and spiritual nourishment.[10] In Matthew 6:11 “give” in Greek is…a single act) while here Luke 11:3 “give”…means, “keep on giving,”^[11] which means all that we need day by day into the future. It is not talking about having a storehouse of bread, but getting just what we need each and everyday (Proverbs 30:8). Throughout the Old Testament, we see that bread is not only an essential part of nourishment, but it is also a picture of spiritual food provided by God for His people (cf. Deuteronomy 8:3; Proverbs 9:1–6; Isaiah 55:1–3). When YHWH fed the children of Israel manna (Exodus 16:4–36), they were only allowed to gather enough for each day, and any leftovers would rot, showing their dependence of YHWH to provide for them (cf. Luke 11:3). It is interesting to point out that Manna is called “bread from heaven” in Exodus 16:4. The miraculous interventions by YHWH in the Old Testament foreshadowed YHWH in flesh, Jesus the Christ who would come visit His people (Luke 1:68) and feed them with the everlasting Bread of Life (John 6:35; John 6:48), for Jesus is the prophet greater than Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15–22), who fed His people in the wilderness (Luke 9:12) with meat and manna (Exodus 16:1-36).

The fifth petition is “And forgive us our sins,” (Luke 11:4). Here we see that the fifth petition focuses on the man’s relationship to God in asking for the forgiveness of our sins. Dr. Luke has already showed us that forgiveness of sins and saving faith are linked in Luke 7:36-50 (Anointing the Anointed One).  In Matthew 6:12, Matthew records for us that Jesus says “And forgive us our debts” (τα ὀφειληματα which means obligation in a moral sense, debt^[12]) while Dr. Luke records that Jesus said “And forgive us our sins” (τας ἁμαρτιας).^[13] There is nothing to quibble about, the spirit of each is the same, and truth be told, when you sin, you are indebted to someone, especially towards God. The fifth petition for the forgiveness of sins balances the fourth petition for daily bread. While bread is a fundamental staple of physical life so is the continuing forgiveness of sins is for our spiritual life. Just as Jesus modeled for us to ask daily for bread (Luke 11:3), so too are we to ask daily for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus spoke of forgiveness of sins as a centerpiece of His earthly ministry when He stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth and read from Isaiah 61:1-2; “The Spirit of YHWH is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of YHWH.” (Luke 4:18–19) When Jesus read, “To proclaim liberty to the captives” (Luke 4:18), the Greek word for “proclaim” (MSS. ἄφεσιν from G859 ἄφεσις aphĕsis) is translated as forgiveness or repentance throughout the New Testament (cf. Luke 1:77; Luke 3:3; Luke 24:47). The forgiveness of sins was a mark of the earthly ministry of Jesus (the paralyzed man lowered by his friends in Luke 5:17–26; and the prostitute who anointed the feet of Jesus in Luke 7:36–50). Paul, in the Antioch synagogue, said “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:38–39) John wrote that “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8–10)

Luke 11:4 “For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” In asking for forgiveness of sins a person expresses his faith that God will forgive him. Such a person then evidences his faith by forgiving others.^[14] (cf. Matthew 6:14–15; Matthew 18:21–35; Luke 17:3; Ephesians 4:31–32; Colossians 3:13; 1 John 1:8–10)

The sixth petition is “And do not lead us into temptation” (Luke 11:4). This at first glance seems to be a strange request, for doesn’t God want to keep us from sinning? In both Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:4 “not lead” (μη εἰσενεγκῃς [mē eisenegkēis]) occurs (second aorist subjunctive with μη [mē] in prohibition, ingressive aorist). “Bring us not” is a better translation than “do not lead us.” There is no such thing as God enticing one to sin (James 1:13).^[15] Jesus urges us to pray not to be tempted as in Luke 22:40 in Gethsemane.^[16] So what we see here is that we are to be praying that we will be delivered from situations that would cause us to sin and that we would live righteously. As Paul told the Corinthian church that “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13) and James wrote, “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:14–15) Being tempted is not a sin; it is giving into that temptation as we just saw James tell us (James 1:14–15) that is when we sin. Unfortunately, many pastors and Bible teachers have given the church the idea that temptation is sin. So it is possible that we may be tempted to sin and yet not fall into temptation and sin. Temptation is something that we will face until we die. It is impossible, while still in our sinful, depraved, fallen bodies to go through life without being tempted. Lest we forget, Satan is the “god of the age” (2 Corinthians 4:4; cf. Mathew 4:8-9; John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12; Revelation 20:2-3) and “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) Even our LORD and Saviour was tempted, for the writer of Hebrews reminds us that “we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) We are told that because of what He endured, “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”  (Hebrews 2:18) As hard as it is to fully understand at times, the temptation we go through in this life is designed to make us more like Christ. Jesus went through temptation like we do on a daily basis by taking on human flesh to die for us to free us from the servitude of sin and death (Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:8). Jesus understands temptation, for we have never faced temptation like He has. The temptations of Jesus were more real and severe than it has ever been for us. The pressure of temptation only yields when we give in, which is something Jesus never did. The temptations that Jesus faced and endure with were with their full force, He had to endure a much greater difficulty of temptation than we will ever face.   Jesus gave us a model that we are to copy when we are facing temptation. Jesus used the Word of God to combat the temptation of Satan and of sin (Deuteronomy 8:3; Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 6:16). Jesus never used His power as God to combat temptation, or tapped into some spiritual resource that only the elite and chosen can have access to. He used the same resource that we have today, the Word of God.

When tempted, we are to shine the light of God’s Word to expose the seductive lies and half-truths that are given to us. If we don’t know the Word of God, we will be ill equipped to fight against temptation. The Word of God in no place gives us a promise of absolute freedom from temptation. Both the forth petition of daily bread and the fifth petition the forgiveness of sins shed some light on the sixth petition of “And do not lead us into temptation,” (Luke 11:4). Our Heavenly Father who gives “Every good gift and every perfect gift” (James 1:17) even allowed His Son to be tempted by Satan (Luke 4:1-13), which reveals to us that there is no sin in temptation, for the sin comes “when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:15) During the temptation of the Son in the wilderness, the temptations that Satan tried on the Son of Man included the temptation to put physical bread ahead of the Word of God by basically saying to Jesus, “Since You are the Son of God, why are You so hungry?” (Luke 4:3), and to seek worldly glory instead of correctly worshipping God alone (Luke 4:1-13). On the Mount of Olives, before His crucifixion, Jesus tells His disciples to “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:40) To pray not to be led into temptation is to pray not to give in to that temptation, much like the seed sown on the rock, “who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.” (Luke 8:13) The disciples are to pray that though the enemy, the world, and their sinful nature attack them, God would preserve them from falling into apostasy. The combination of the fourth petition for daily bread with the fifth petition for forgiveness with the sixth petition to be kept from sin are petitions to help the disciples (and us) in “our common salvation” (Jude 3) so that we may “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) The way that Jesus handled each of these temptations is a model for us in how we are to handle temptation. Jesus used “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) to fight each temptation. Temptation is the weapon that Satan uses to defeat us, but it can be instead used as a tool for God to build us (James 1:2-8). Just as our LORD and Saviour endured temptation but did not succumb to it, so to can we in by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our great God can make a way of escape for us, when we are in temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). I think of Joseph, a picture of Jesus, who “was handsome in form and appearance” (Genesis 39:6) and refused the daily barrage by Potiphar’s wife to lay with her (Genesis 39:7-10). During this time of temptation, Joseph even said to her, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9) Even when she found him alone in the house one day (Genesis 39:11), “she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.” (Genesis 39:12) Yes Joseph was thrown into prison, falsely accused (Genesis 39:13-20) and later forgotten by Pharaoh’s chief butler (Genesis 40:23), yet through it all, YHWH had not forgotten him and exalted him when it was YHWH’s perfect time (Genesis 41:1-50:26). When we give in to temptation and sin, we become entangled (1 Timothy 6:9). Becoming entangled in our sin leads us to compromise in our walk with God, and it is much like the insect that is attracted to the Pitcher Plant, a carnivorous plant that stores up a sweet smelling nectar that lures the unsuspecting insect into its mouth, and when that insect takes a sip of that sweet nectar, it then falls into the sweet nectar that it craved so much, and gets stuck it in it, and after trying vainly, finally gives up due to exhaustion. The nectar itself actually contains chemicals (that are similar to those found in the stomach) that could slowly munch and swallow the skin of its prey until it dissolves completely—becoming the very juice that it once tried to drink.^[17] In our case though, when we give into temptation, often we are not killed immediately like the insect in the Pitcher Plant, but we are just as clueless, because we think that the sin that we are entangled (1 Timothy 6:9) in is not so bad, besides, we are after all, only human! [18] We then flirt and play around with sin, go over it in our mind and rationalize it so much that we end of convincing ourselves that it is not as bad as it really is, and besides, what’s the bug deal? We are only human, we are not perfect, and plus, Jesus died for my sins and by His grace we are saved (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9) and not by works. We get to the point where we end up rationalizing in ourselves about committing a sin that just days before we would be so disgusted with ourselves for even thinking about it, let alone committing it. Much like David, and knowing that here is a man after God’s own heart (cf. 1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) and no one would ever think that he could fall into the temptation of sleeping with Uriah’s wife and then ordering the murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:1-27)! To combat the temptation to sin, we are watch and pray, heeding the advice found in Paul’s first letter the church in Corinth, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” (1 Corinthians 16:13) as well as what Jesus told His disciples on the Mt. of Olives just before His crucifixion “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (Luke 22:40)

“To believe that He will preserve us is, indeed, a means of preservation. God will certainly preserve us, and make a way of escape for us out of the temptation, should we fall. We are to pray for what God has already promised. Our requests are to be regulated by His promises and commands. Faith embraces the promises and so finds relief.” – John Owen

The seventh and final petition is “But deliver us from the evil one.” (Luke 11:4) Some manuscripts omit this part of the verse. This is later echoed by Jesus in the real LORD’s prayer found in John 17, when He said, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:15) and by Paul “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” (2 Thessalonians 3:3) Later on, Jesus would defeat the Devil at the cross, but the war is still raging and Satan is taking as many down with him as possible. The writer of Hebrews, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16-17), wrote “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14–15) Paul wrote that Jesus “gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” (Galatians 1:4) “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:10) John wrote, “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8) Jesus has and will continue to deliver us from the evil one, because as His disciples, when we die, we have eternal life (cf. Matthew 7:13-14; John 3:16; 1 John 5:13-14).

The final petition, then, is only rightly grasped when regarded as a prayer for deliverance from all evil of whatever kind—not only from sin, but from all its consequences—fully and finally. Fitly, then, are our prayers ended with this. For what can we desire which this does not carry with it?^[19]

These first three petitions, which have to do exclusively with God…occur in a descending scale—from Himself down to the manifestation of Himself in His kingdom; and from His kingdom to the entire subjection of its subjects, or the complete doing of His will. While the four last petitions have to do with ourselves and they occur in an ascending scale—from the bodily wants of every day up to our final deliverance from all evil.^[20]

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^[1] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 11:1). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[2] Plummer, A. (1896). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Gospel according to S. Luke (pp. 294–295). London: T&T Clark International.

^[3] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, pp. 25–26). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[4] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, pp. 25–26). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[5] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 25). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[6] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 10). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

^[7] Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 235). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[8] E. Stanley Jones, A Song of Ascents (Tardy Ox Cart, Swindoll p453)

^[9] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 25). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[10] I. H. Marshall, The Gospel of Luke, p460

^[11] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 11:1). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[12] Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 743). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

^[13] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 11:1). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[14] Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 235). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[15] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 11:1). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

^[16] Robertson, A. T. (1933). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Lk 11:1). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

[17] http://www.carnivorous--plants.com/pitcher-plant.html

[18] https://mikeratliff.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/what-is-the-danger-of-entering-temptation-2/

^[19] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 27). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^[20] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 25). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.