Bible Questions & Discussion PAGE 358

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Matthew 7:15-20

Part 4.

It is nearly always the case that false prophets will attract avowed unbelievers as well as nominal and carnal believers. He appeals to the natural man and carefully avoids anything that is offensive to man's proud, fallen nature. He makes a point of being attractive, likeable, and of giving no offense.

A second area in which a false prophet can be judged is that of doctrine. Superficially what he teaches may seem biblical and orthodox, but careful examination will always reveal ideas that are unscriptural and the absence of a strong, clear theology. False ideas will be taught, or at least important truths will be omitted. Frequently there will be a combination of both. Eventually the fruit will show a tree for what it is, because a good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

The creed of false prophets never has a narrow gate or a narrow way. On the surface their message may sound difficult and demanding, but it will always rest on the foundation of man's works and will therefore always be accomplishable by man's own effort. They never reveal the depth or danger of sin and depravity, the need for repentance, forgiveness, and submission to the Lord, or the destiny of judgment, condemnation, and eternal destruction for those apart from God. There is no brokenness over sin and no longing after righteousness. They have easy answers for small problems. "They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially," Jeremiah says, "saying, 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace" ( Jer. 6:14). There is no humility, no warning of judgment, and no call for repentance and a contrite heart of obedience.

See Part 5.

Alex,

Part 2 continued

In Isaiah 40:17-18 says, "All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him?"

Isaiah 46:5, 9 "To whom will ye liken Me; and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be like?....For I am God, there is none else, I am God, and there is none like Me."

Psalm 86:8 says, "Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O LORD; neither are there any works like unto thy works."

This is not saying that there actually are truly any other gods, but that none of the idols can compare to God.

God is incomparable to any other being. He created all other beings, so none of these beings is or can become God.

God became man in Jesus, but no man has or every will become God or a god.

Angels and humans are creations of God, they are not a duplicate or reproduction of God. He said He would not make any gods after Him. His essence is unique, (one of a kind) and only the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit possess this essence that marks their divinity as being solely non-communicable to another being. Divinity is innate in God, it cannot be separated from Him, nor can it be acquired from Him by any other being.

Satan thought that He could become like God or equal to God. He tempted Adam and Eve with this same idea. But neither Satan nor Adam and Eve became divine in any way. And neither will we.

Part 3: SOME ARE CALLED "GODS" OR "SONS OF GOD" IN SCRIPTURES

Exodus 7:1 says "And the LORD said to Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharoah: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet."

God was not changing Moses into a god here. He was indicating that Moses was to be God's representative before Pharoah.

Psalm 82:1-6 says "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and needy; rid them out of the hand of the wicked

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Matthew 7:15-20.

Part 3

A person's basic character-his inner motives, standards, loyalties, attitudes, and ambitions-will eventually show through in what he does and how he acts. John the Baptist told the hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees who came to be baptized to first "bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance" ( Luke 3:8). Their manner of living belied their claim that they loved and served God. When the multitude then asked John what good fruit was, he replied, "Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise" (v.11). To the tax-gatherers who asked what they should do, John said, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to" (v. 13). John was saying that the person who is genuinely repentant and who truly trusts and loves God will also loveand help his fellow man (cf. James 2:15-17; 1 John 3:17; 4:20).

A person who belongs to Jesus Christ and who is called by God and given God's message will give evidence of good fruit both in his attitudes and his actions. A person who does not belong to God, especially a false prophet who claims to be God's messenger, will sooner or later manifest the bad fruit that the bad tree of his sensual life inevitably produces.

False prophets can disguise and hide their bad fruit for a while with ecclesiastical trappings, biblical knowledge, and evangelical vocabulary. They can cover it by belonging to Christian organizations, associating with Christian leaders, and by talking about divine things. But how they talk, act, and react when not in the view of Christians will eventually expose their true loyalty and convictions. What is in the heart will emerge, and corrupt theology will result in a corrupt life. False teaching and perverted living are inseparable, and eventually will become manifest.

See Part 4.

Does Christ have a God?

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Matthew 7:15-20.

Part 2.

It is possible for real Christians to be taken in by false prophets. When believers are careless about study of and obedience to the Word, lazy about prayer, and uncritical about the things of God, it is easy for them to be deceived by someone who pretends to be orthodox-especially if he is pleasant, positive, and permissive. When that happens, they are in danger of becoming grapes on thorn bushes and figs on thistles. Satan loves to use God's own people to promote his evil work, seeking, if it were possible, even to snatch them from their heavenly Father ( Matt. 24:24).

It is also possible for a tree itself to bear fruit that is colorful, well formed, and attractive, but which is bitter, distasteful, and even poisonous. That kind of bad tree with its bad fruit is much harder to judge than thorn bushes that have grapes on them or thistles that have figs on them. In the second case, both the tree and the fruit appear to be genuine. What it bears has to be examined carefully to determine if it is good fruit or bad fruit. A mature believe who has developed discernment can spot the bad tree and bad fruit ( Heb. 5:14).

Judging the fruit of false prophets, of course, is not nearly so easy as judging fruit in an orchard. But from Scripture we discover at least three primary tests we can apply in order to know. They are in the areas of character, creed, and converts.

See Part 3.

Hi Giannis.

As always, thank you for helping us to dig deeper in the original language and study scripture words and even letters as I believe often makes a big difference!

I tend to hold view of the sons of God/disrobed Angel's theory.

Thanks again brother and God bless.

The following is an excerpt from The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Matthew 7:15-20.

Part 1

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? ( Matthew 7:15-16)

After warning about false prophets, Jesus tells us what to watch for in identifying them. Because they are so extremely deceptive and dangerous ravenous spiritual and moral wolves in sheep's clothing-the Lord would hardly have left us without means of determining who they are.

Jesus assures us that we will know them by their fruits. A fruit tree may be beautiful, decorative, and offer pleasant shade in the summer. But its primary purpose is to bear fruit, and it is therefore judged by what it produces and not by how it looks.

Similarly a prophet-used in this passage in the broadest sense of one who speaks for God-is judged by his life, not simply by his appearance or his words. The kind of person he really is cannot help being revealed. Some false prophets are noticeably spurious and only the most gullible person would be taken in by them. Others conceal their true nature with remarkable skill, and only careful observation will expose them for what they are. But there is a true assurance in the statement you will know them. There is no need to be deceived if we look closely.

It is the cleverly deceptive false prophet that Jesus is speaking about here. No one needs help in deciding that a tree is bad if it bears shriveled, discolored, and obviously rotten fruit-or no fruit at all. It is the tree that appears to bear good fruit, but does not, that is deceptive.

It is possible for grapes to be stuck on thorn bushes and for figs to be stuck on thistles. From a distance they might appear to be growing on real fruit trees. Because the fruit is genuine, naive persons might conclude that the tree itself also has to be genuine.

See Part 2.

Hello Mara. As Gigi has shared with you, Hezekiah was a king of Judah. He was the son of King Ahaz ( 2 Kings 18:1) & reigned from 715-686 BC, and at this time the Prophet Isaiah was prophesying. Ezekiel was called a priest, son of Buzi ( Ezekiel 1:3) and was among the captives that the Babylonian king had taken from Judah ( Ezekiel 1:1). And it was during the captivity, that Ezekiel began receiving visions from God (around 600 BC), some 86 years after the death of King Hezekiah. Therefore, Hezekiah & Ezekiel cannot be the same person because of the years they lived & their different status (King & priest/prophet).

One thing that has come to my mind, is that you might have seen the name, Ezekias, somewhere and this has caused you this confusion. This name (Ezekias) is the Romanized writing of the Hebrew, Hezekiah, and is not the Prophet Ezekiel. Hope that helps to clarify the matter.

Pt 2

Spencer

Verse 2 in the Hebr text:

"uirau(andthey-are-seeing) bni(sons-of) ealeim (theElohim) ath bnuth(daughters-of) eadm (thehuman) ..."

It talks about the sons of Elohim. But IF in this case the word El/Elohim means mighty/strong and not God then it is going to be "That the sons of the mighty saw the daughters of men ..." Who are the sons of the mighty? They are the giants described in verse 4. That is why the children of those with the daughters of other people were mighty (giants in the Septuagint). Because neither the "Angelic" nor the "Sethite" theories can explain why their children were also mighty (or giants according to the Septuagint). So if this is right then the text says that the sons of the giants liked the daughters of other men and took them as wives who bare children to them, giants like them. Well, it makes sense to be honest. It is not what I believe, I actually tend towards the "Sethite" theory but searching on the net for information I got that staff, maybe it is worth thinking about it.

GBU

Pt 1

Hello Spencer

Apart from the "Sethite" and "Angel" views there is another view as well.

Introduction: The word "El", prural "Elohim" means not only God/s in Hebr but it comes from a root word for strong, powerful, mighty, noble, Judge etc.

Example. Psalm 82:1, "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods." (KJV).

Lets see in Hebr, "Aleim(Elohim) ntzb (one-being-stationed) bodth(incongregation-of) al(El) b qrb(inwithin-of) aleim(Elohim) - taken from the Online Hebrew Interlinear Bible).

The expression "congregation of El" is translated as "congregation of the mighty" in KJV as it should be since the word "El" in this case means "mighty", not "God". This is how this specific verse is translated in almost all Bibles. But I found out that the Septuagint text translates it differently, i.e. "God stands in the congregation of gods, he sees among the gods". That version translates the word "El" as "God", not "mighty". I am writting all those to make you understand that in Hebrew "El" apart from God it also means all those I wrote above.

So lets go to Genesis 6:1-4

"1- And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 - That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; ... 3 - And the LORD .... 4 - There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men(giants in the Septuagint text) which were of old, men of renown." (KJV)

Dear Ruby Lea Read,

The Bible is God's gift to us, a book of great multiplicity! It incorporates history, law, types and symbols, poetry, promises, devotion, doctrine, parables, and prophecy, the Message. The Bible is a collection of 66 books by about 40 authors over approximately 1600 years that were inspired by God (the word of God) that is now in almost all languages.

Is the entire Bible prophecy? No, about one-third of it is. Are many to most of them fulfilled? Yes. Can we find prophecies in Genesis? Yes. Can we see the meaning of the historical reality that can be archaeologically proven and still see the message of how God was working His plan starting with the first Adam? Yes. Is Jesus the spirit of prophecy? No, it is our testimony of Jesus that is the spirit of prophecy.

Were the people of Noah's time preached to? Yes. Some take this verse differently 1 Peter 3:18-20. My understanding the same Spirit that raised Jesus, through Noah preached redemption to the people for 120 years as he built the ark, 2 Peter 2:5 the flood took all the ungodly but the eight. Jesus did not while He was in the tomb preach to the dead, if that was the case why only those who died in the flood?

Angels are ministers but they do not preach the gospel they do not have a testimony because they do not understand it, 1 Peter 1:10-12. Regardless of the innovations in the world, it does not change and is not new, what was, is now, human nature has remained and always will remain the same.

We must be led by the Holy Spirit of truth. We must know all has not been revealed and all answers will not be given. We are responsible and we will be held accountable, Rev. 20:15. We can get lost in prophecies and parables our own wisdom can shade the truth for truth is simple to understand even for a child in faith.

Just a little.

God bless,

RLW

Frank, I'm praying for you today. Work as unto the Lord. Your boss/company will be so blessed. And you can love the Lord as if it were Him you were working for.

Colossians 3:22-24

I pray that the Lord will lift you up and energize you in the Holy Spirit today and every day. In Jesus name amen

God is so good

:-)

Craig try this, Study small sections at a time to start out, and use a Strongs Concordance to look up the true meaning of the words, then use a note pad to write down the verses, the number of the word in the Strongs, and the meaning, it seems to be really helpful to me. before you know it you'll have a note pad full of studies from the Word of God that you can read over and over if you need too, that way you can study the same thing a lot easier to keep it fresh in your mind, plus it always seems to stick with you more when you write it down. I hope this helps you it really helped me, I have probably 20 note pads almost all full of studies I've done over many years. Stay in the Word!

Amen Sammi:

John 9:41 ....if you were blind, you would have no sin: but now you say, WE SEE, therefore your sin remainth.

When we read God's word and we come to words such a mountain, we automatically picture in our carnal minds a physical mountain, instead of what it represents in Christ mind.

As we study and the spirit of Christ teaches, we begin to develop the mind of Christ, we see the meaning, not the physical, this is a process that happens with time and study.

Matthew 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Daniel 7:13 ...one like of the Son of man come with the clouds of heaven ----has that image popped into your carnal mind ------ that not the meaning in Christ mind ----

God Bless you as he creates the mind of Christ IN YOU.

Hi Kalebu...All thru the Old Testament....The tabernacle was for a House for God to dwell in...And it had 3 parts,..3 Dividions....But the holist was where God wd meet with the Priests....The tribe of Levi...

But God wanted a new COVENANT....And a new temple ....And this New Temple wd be mans hearts and minds....Abide in me and i in you...Now the H.G. is our high Priest...And he has to be born in us....Now under this new covenant our bodies are the temple of the H.G. ....OK GTG....BBL

Amen Brother Alex:

Everyone gets the same wage: immortality; Christ ONLY hath immortality ( 1 Timothy 6:16), the firstfruits in this age, all others in the next age, the feast of the ingathering, feast of the TENTS or tabernacles.

Zechariah 12:7 And I will save the TENTS of Judah FIRST ---- firstfruits -----there are TWO harvest, firstfruits then the ingathering.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that which is done shall be done, there is no new thing under the sun.

God Bless YOU!

Amen sammi:

I'm trying to learn and read the Lords Words, but I'm having a difficult time understanding. I'm dyslectic! Can someone please help?

JRR You are right, look the word flesh up in a Strongs Concordance. He took two of every race..

My "Right Hand" signifies strength and authority. The Lord will uphold and strengthen me, I will not be afraid of anything.

Oh Lord! I will follow your leading as you hold me by my hand.

Are you hungry ?Are you thirsty? I hope so , I'm starving and never feel full ! I always want more ! Throughout the old testament we are told that God will provide us with food and drink , is that really physical food and drink or is it a promise of...the Bible itself ? I'm not great at tying things together so I hope these verses are ok , they say what I want to much better than I ever could , Matthew 4:4 , Matthew 5:6 and also 15-26 , Luke 6:21-25 , John 6:35 , Isaiah 9:13-20 also 29:7-24 , all of Ch 32 , 49:5-10 , 65:11-25 , all of Ch 66. Psalm 106:15 , also 107:1-15+31-37 and all of 146 . The Bible is the LIVING WORD , it is what sustains us , feeds us and waters us as we wander in this wilderness towards our promised destination .

Hi Spencer GBU....But the new covenant is all inclusive.... Jeremiah 31:34 I will KNOW them ALL from the least to the greatest...and their sins and iniquities will i remember no more...That New Covenant is by the blood of Jesus...If i be lifted up ( his blood ) I will draw ALL MEN unto me...Thats everybody...An all inclusive Covenant.

Matthew 20:1-16....The vineyard...Some were hired early and some were hired late...But in the end they were ALL HIRED....And given the same wages....The last shall be 1st and the 1st shall be last....But they were all given the same wages from the 1st to the last...Which is the Kingdom....Thats y Jesus is saying if i be lifted up ( The Cross )..I will draw ALL men unto me......ALL MEN

Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every Creature... Mark 16:15...And his words cannot return unto him void....But the book the N.C. has to be opened 1st....b/f the Kingdom comes in Rev 12 :10...We have to birth the manchild which is the H.G....That New Creature....Thats y he is saying the 1st shall be last and the last 1st...indicative of this 2k yr period of darkness coming to an end...I am the light of the world but the night comes darkness when no man can work....

In Isaiah 11:11.. He saw an ocean of knowledge covering the earth as the waters covering the seas thats everybody ...And this knowledge is an intimacy that is gonna result in a birth of Christ in everybody....Thats y Jeremiah saw ALL MEN in travail and birth pains as woman in travail....Simply b/c this Knowledge is an intimacy....Thats y he has to know us which answers to tree of knowlege in Gen. and this ocean of knowledge covering the earth in Isaiah 11...He is gonna know everybody resulting in a birth of Christ in us Everybody...ok lemme go.... Jeremiah 31:34 I will know them ALL FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST and their sins and iniquites will i remember no more....And its God Almighty that is making this new covenant with the blood of Jesus... if i be lifted up I..will.

Peace Be Upon You.

The Priest Hezekiah And Ezekiel Are The Same Person, The 48 Chapter Of The Book Of Ezekiel, Isaiah Chapter 38:1-22; Second Kings Chapter 20:1-21; Second Chronicles Chapter 32:1-33. Why Are They Portrait As Two Different People?

A question : do you have faith , in God and in Jesus ? I'm guessing yes , so , why haven't you moved a mountain ? For many years I beat myself up over this , Matthew 17:20 , Matthew 21:21 , Mark 11:23 , John 4:21 . Obviously , I don't have even a tiny mustard grain of faith ! It's only quite recently that I realised that Jesus is using a metaphor . The mountain represents those trials and tribulations that I have in my daily life , my worries my fears my insecurities that come from paying too much attention to the things of this life . Then of course I had to rethink a few other things , once I had realised and accepted that , Jesus sometimes used metaphors , this has opened up my mind to all kinds of possibilities . Further study is required ! Guess what ? Further study is always required ! We are used to metaphors in the Bible especially in the book of Revelation but I hadn't really thought about Jesus using them , parables yes , metaphors ? Took me longer to recognise them . The Bible never stops teaching us new things , this is how it works , it opens up slowly , the more effort you put in and the more your heart and mind are open to it , the more it reveals . It doesn't matter how long we have been reading it , it doesn't matter how many times we've read it , it doesn't matter how great we think our knowledge and understanding is , there's still got good stuff in there to teach us . This is why we need to be careful about how we receive others , they may now something that we don't know yet , we may now something that they don't know yet , we must not discourage open discussion , we must not close our eyes and ears to each other . May God bless us all with open eyes , ears , minds and hearts , to receive His Word from each other with humility and patience and love .

This is why the old testament is so massively important , I wish people would study it as much as they do the new , their understanding of the new would be so much enhanced ! I have no idea why some people are reluctant , maybe they will find things in there that challenge their beliefs ? We must remember that God is the same , He doesn't change , His words in the old testament tie in perfectly with the new , it's the same Almighty God , the Holy One of Israel . It boggles my mind that some Christians ignore it completely . ALL scripture is given by God and helpful to us .

this is powerful chptr, in 3 basic parts. the Birth of Jesus.8 days later,back to Jerusalem at the temple,from Egypt.then 12 years later...

at the Temple 7-8 days later after his Birth,is a special part of a special story

There an elderly man and woman were present ,Anna and Simeon,along with Baby Jesus ,Mary n Joesepth.Simeon held baby Jesus and proclaimed his purpose,Anna instantly did like wise.a bunch of little stories within these stories

Mary and Joesepth would go to Jerusalem evry yr. for Passover feast,there was another reason Jesus did what he did when he did

Something to think about... you Said Cains decendents were killed in the flood... before the flood there were Nephilim just like after the flood there was Nephilim roaming the earth. Wouldn't have all the Nephilim died in the flood?

The size of the Ark was huge, YAHWEH told Noah in Genius 6:19 to take of every living thing of ALL flesh, 2 of every kind male and female to keep them alive with you, they shall be male and female. Then he says of the birds after their kind,and of the Animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind. It sounds to me like he is talking about other humans flesh. Plus 8 people could not take care of the Ark that size with that many animals 24/7. They had to keep it clean otherwise it would have caught fire from the waste. No electricity only by candle.

Brother Ronald:

The word of God is ultimately a prophecy of the kingdom of God.

The Word is Christ, Christ is the spirit of prophecy.

Even the first chapters of Genesis has prophecies of the kingdom of God.

The same spirit that resurrected Christ preached to the people at Noah's time.

Christ said the gospel was preached to them as well as us.

The ministering angles preach the gospel, they are the Sons of God, and they take wives of the daughters of men, just as Christ takes us as his wife, they are all one in Christ, as we will be one with him when we are translated.

Ecclesiastes says that what has been will be again, there is nothing new under he sun.

Genesis 6 is a prophecy of the kingdom of God. Even the ark is prophecy.

I tried to keep this short, if you want scriptures, I will give them, I know you are well versed; and know which verses i am referring to.

God Bless YOU as HE deliveries us.

You're welcome Cheryl.

God bless.

Hi Richard,

The Gospels were written after Jesus ascended to heaven but when we read them it is like it was happening as they wrote them. Jesus told them several times what was going to happen to Him, but it was hidden from them, Luke 9:44-45 Luke 18:31-34. We see how they reacted when He was crucified and after He was resurrected, they did not believe the women when they told them Jesus had resurrected Luke 24:9-11.

The disciples believed Jesus the Messiah was going to set up the kingdom then, the gospel of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and being raised from the dead was hidden from them. So, when we read how Peter denied knowing Jesus and the disciples ran away when they arrested Him, this must be considered.

What they were expecting was crumbling in front of them. Their eyes were not opened until first Jesus opened their understanding, Luke 24:44-45 and later a Pentecost with the baptizing of the Holy Spirit.

Just something to think about.

God bless,

RLW