...................................................................LET US LEARN TOGETHER WHAT IS GOOD. Job 34:4b(NIV)................................................................Some people see the Bible as a long and boring book filled with incidents and events from the lives of ancient people who probably never existed. The biblical stories are seen as fables. Romans 15:4 (KJV) reveals: For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. In this blog, many of the situations and conversations found in the divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible have been placed in categories that correspond to expressive sayings and phrases. Reference information, background information and links connecting the people and places are given to help you find a place to begin reading the Bible for yourself.

Saturday, March 18, 2023

Not at All and None at All

From a letter written by the apostle Paul,
with Timothy,
to believers in Corinth and the surrounding regions:

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf. For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end; As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.-2 Corinthians 1:8-14***Zechariah (Zacharias) and Elizabeth (Elisabeth) were Israelites from the tribe of Levi. Levi was the 3rd son born to Jacob (Israel) and his 1st wife Leah. Jacob was the youngest fraternal twin son born to Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and 90-year-old Sarah (Sarai). Abraham and Sarah were born to Terah. Terah was the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Arphaxad. Arphaxad was born to Shem. Shem was born to Noah the ark builder. Noah was the great-grandson of Enoch. Enoch was the great-great-great-grandson of Seth. Seth was born to 130-year-old Adam and Eve. Adam was the 1st man. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that the Lord God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, and on the 6th day the Lord God created Adam, and on the 7th day the Lord God rested and was refreshed. The Lord God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and the Lord God made Adam's wife Eve, the mother of all living, after taking a part out of Adam. The Lord God blessed them, and gave them commands, and gave Adam commands about the trees in the Garden of Eden. Eve was deceived, and Adam listened to Eve and disobeyed the command of the Lord God. Sin entered into the world through Adam and death entered through sin. In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Leah and her younger sister Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Shem's son Aram was the forefather of the Arameans. Levi, Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel and Joseph were Jacob's favorites. During Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began journeying home to Canaan with his family, servants, animals, and possessions. Near Bethlehem, Benjamin was born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel died. Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast, and Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh, the king of  Egypt, proclaimed him second-in-command. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons, and the tribe of Joseph became the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. Over 1,800 years after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt, and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, the angel Gabriel appeared to elderly, childless Zechariah the priest and told Zechariah that his prayer was heard, and told him about the conception, birth and purpose of the son who would born to Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. The angel Gabriel told Zechariah to name the child John, and said the birth of John was going to cause rejoicing and gladness, and John would be great in the eyes of the Lord, and would be filled with the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) while in Elizabeth's womb, and would bring many Israelites back to the Lord, and prepare people for the Lord. During the 6th month that elderly Elizabeth was carrying John the Baptist in her womb, the Lord God sent the angel Gabriel to Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin. The angel Gabriel said Mary was favored with grace, and the Lord was with Mary, and Mary was blessed among women. The angel Gabriel told Mary not to fear, and said Mary had favor with the Lord God, and Mary would give birth to a Son, and Mary was to name the Son Jesus, and Jesus, the Son of the Highest (the Most High), would be conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb. Joseph was the craftsman pledged to wed Mary. After Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb when Mary was a virgin, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph when Joseph was asleep and told Joseph, in a dream, not to be afraid to receive Mary as his wife, and explained that the child in Mary's womb was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and Joseph was to name the Son Jesus, and Jesus will save his people from their sins. Months after John the Baptist was born to Zechariah and Elizabeth, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. On the 8th day after John the Baptist was born, he was circumcised, and on the 8th day after Jesus the Christ was born, Jesus was circumcised, according to the covenant of circumcision that the Lord God gave Abraham. During the 12th year after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Joseph and Mary found Jesus in Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord, listening, asking, understanding, and answering. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. Less than 3 1/2 years after Jesus was baptized, Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot the disciple and apostle, and Jesus was arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, and returned to heaven. Paul (Saul) was an Israelite and a Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin and did not believe Jesus to be the Christ. Throughout Jerusalem, Paul persecuted and imprisoned Israelites who believed Jesus to be the Christ of God. When Paul was journeying to the synagogues in Damascus, Syria, to find, bind and take to Jerusalem any Israelite believers he found, Paul and those with him saw a light from heaven flash around them. Paul heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him, and Paul spoke to Jesus and obeyed Jesus. In Damascus Paul was baptized. From thenceforward, Paul the apostle journeyed and wrote divinely inspired letters, teaching Israelites and Gentiles, people not born into the Israelite tribes, the good news of Jesus the Christ and everlasting life. In  Antioch, Pisidia, Israelites ejected Paul and Barnabas away from their region. In Lystra, Paul was pelted with stones and dragged out of the city by the pelters, who thought Paul was dead. In Philippi, Paul and Silas were whipped and imprisoned. In Jerusalem, several attempts and plans were made to kill Paul. When Paul was being beaten during his final visit to Jerusalem, Claudius Lysias, a Roman commander, went with his soldiers and centurions, and chains were put on Paul, and Lysias allowed Paul to speak to the Israelites. After the crowd became uproarious again, Paul was taken away to be flogged, and Paul identified himself as a Roman citizen. Amid a storm during Paul's voyage to Rome, an angel of God revealed a message from the Lord God to Paul, and Paul believed God. Paul spoke to the others aboard, and everyone survived the shipwreck. In a letter to Timothy (Timotheus), Paul wrote of their trust in the living God.-Genesis, Exodus, Numbers 13:1-14:45, 20:1-20, 26:1-27:23, Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra 1:1-11, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon

Reference Information
acknowledge = epiginoskete/epiginosko = understand, recognize

Asia = The Roman province of western Asia Minor (modern Turkey), including Ephesus, Lydia, Pergamos, Sardis, Smyrna, Thyatira

conversation = anestraphemen/anastrepho = conducted ourselves, overturned, turn back

gift = charisma/charizomai = grace, gift of grace

rejoicing = kauchema/kauchaomai = boasting

sentence = apokrima/apokrinomai = answer, judicial decision

Reference Scriptures
Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:-Acts 19:26

Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,-Acts 21:26-27

Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.-2 Corinthians 11:22-27

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.-2 Peter 3:10

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