There’s so much to unpack here, and I want to say a lot concerning several of these passages (don’t worry, I have good news for each one), so I’ll do several more notes on passages from just this chapter. I don’t know how long it’ll take, and I can’t promise I’ll be done by the Fourth of July, but this is one of my favourite chapters in this book! For verse 17 is really important for me; indeed, we must never hate anyone 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 however, the VOICE version for this says the meaning of Hebrew is uncertain, and I don’t know why. The Amplified Bible reads for parts 2 and 3, “but you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him” then references Galatians 6:1, 1 John 2:9, 11, 3:15. It’s nice that verse 18 connects to Matthew 5:43-46 and Romans 12:17 (and verse 19) in that translation, though. James 2:8 and Galatians 5:14 quote this, too. I haven’t thought much of other quotations of this verse, but Jesus references it in all the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew Mark, and Luke; these three have an lot in common in content). And before anyone gets in my face about if this is a religious commandment, I’m not so convinced it is, given that Matthew 11:29-30 and 1 John 5:3 are a callback to this. But religion shouldn’t be a part of one’s walk with Jesus, for if love’s missing, it’s all wasted (read 1 Corinthians 13). I can go on and on about this all day.
This chapter is found in pages 69-70 in my NKJV Bible, pages 89-90 of my NASB Bible (Old Testament), pages 146-147 of my VOICE copy, and pages 144-145 of my Amplified Bible (Classic Edition) copy.
And about the Hebrew for verse 17… I couldn’t find a satisfactory way to explain it, so I’ll use the Greek version (Septuagint, where 70 people translated the entire Old Testament into Greek from Hebrew and Aramaic, for those who don’t know). I’ll look it up online real quick… (Later…) After looking up the Greek translation for this, I can say that… uh, Jesus didn’t want any sort of rebuke that somehow drove the guy into deeper levels of sin or anything (this came after a lot of thought). For if we don’t show someone the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:14), but if anyone’s… domineering about it and wants to control them, that’s gross disobedience to verse 17 here, and I can go on all day and all night about how much I hate the hateful correction many people have enjoyed giving throughout time (see Proverbs 16:22). I guess they want nothing but control. Why, though? That’s what I don’t understand. For if Jesus deserves to be first place in everyone’s hearts, but someone ridicules Him, thinking free-will is “weak” — I think I remember reading something in 1 or 2 Kings about some dude named Zedekiah (probably an employee in the king’s palace) who abused a righteous man about something… I don’t remember what the passage is or even what the story’s about. I wish I could find a biblical example proving free-will for good things actually works! My best guess is probably Paul’s story in the book of Acts (like in chapter 9 and how he explained it more than a dozen chapters later) 🤷🏼♂️ and I just read this note at the end again… it’s at the end of the VOICE copy of this chapter in page 147, as I said earlier, and it reads, “Genuine faith manifests itself in the way God’s people treat others.” So I can say that it’s hard to find any good example I can emulate. I hope to get good feedback from my coworkers about how I see Jesus… I’m sorry that so many people in this country and across the earth want to bring Him into subjection 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 and when they drag me to court for this (trying someone for speaking Jesus’ Name isn’t legal in the U.S., but it might as well be the case in which everything the government doesn’t like is criminalized, including love, hope, joy, forgiveness, etc.) — in their case Isaiah 10:1-2 is true of them. I feel pretty lonesome in speaking this 24/7, and I wish I could talk to a friend or two in person about how vulnerable they must be feeling because the president hates all the foreigners and everyone under 30 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 it’s really not cool, I was under 30 once; everyone was, including that guy. Also, no one’s illegal on stolen land, so if God wills, we should get out of here and let only the Native Americans enjoy the place and get rich off their own resources. Besides, if I were to travel to a foreign country, I’d like to learn from the believers there, like in Mexico, Argentina, even Burkina Faso (a country in west Africa; I pray love and hope and relief for everyone there… the conditions are very tragic 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 and all this breaks God’s heart). I think that people “warn” others about getting to a good place because they believe everyone in those good places lives Christianity-lite or are lenient on everything…in other words, they’re like those Paul spoke of in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16! This doesn’t promote safety, it’s only slavery disguised as freedom and love. And because fascism is on the rise here, I pray all those of us in the U.S. who hate the unbiblical “righteousness” can leave while we still can. I don’t expect God to appoint me or someone else as a type of Moses as a call back to the Exodus, though.
I want to be more active on here, but it’s been over 6 years on this site… and all I’ve managed to get done was about 108 chapters. Sorry, guys… but I’m glad I’ve written over 200 posts on here so far! Next time, I’ll comment on verses 9-10. Peace ✌🏼
Ron And His Stories 