As Paul the
apostle continued to instruct Timothy his “son in the faith”
concerning the church in Ephesus, he told him there would be an
apostate group of people who would leave the faith and be “Speaking
lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”.
In chapter four and verse three of his letter, Paul continued to
describe the ways of these deserting people where we read:
Forbidding
to marry, and commanding
to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
The
verse begins, “Forbidding to marry, and
commanding to abstain from meats,...”
Paul began with the word, “Forbidding”
which means “hindering, preventing, withholding, denying and
refusing” “to marry”
or “lead in marriage, take a wife in marriage or give a daughter in
marriage”. The idea is that “marriage was no longer needed or was
an ancient tradition”. Paul added, “and
commanding to abstain from” or “hold
one's self off or restrain from” “meats”
which means “that which is eaten or food”.
These apostate ones will hold to the view that meats are not to be
eaten and vegetables are the only substance which should be consumed.
The verse goes on to
say, “...which God has created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” Paul
gave further credence and explanation to eating “meats”
as he wrote, “which God” who
is “the Godhead, trinity, God the Father, the first person
in the trinity, Christ, the second person of the trinity and the Holy
Spirit, the third person in the trinity who is the one and only true
God” “has created” which means “formed, shaped and
made” “to be received” or “taken and participated”
“with thanksgiving” or “gratitude, gratefulness and
appreciation” “of them which believe” which refers to
those who are “believing, trusting and confiding” “and know”
or are “thoroughly acquainted with, know thoroughly, accurately and
well” “the truth” which means “what is true in things
appertaining to God and the duties of man which is moral and
religious truth”. God created “meats” to be enjoyed by
grateful people who believe and know the truth.
When
people forsake the truth of faith and trust in Jesus Christ,
aberrations appear in their belief system. Rather than holding to the
truth, they form their own thoughts concerning “marriage”
and “eating meats”. This is what was happening in the
church in Ephesus. Because people decided they “knew better” than
the God of the universe, they created their own false doctrines which
included “living together” as a preference to marriage and
vegetarianism over eating meat. We see similarities in our society
today. Many people have forsaken the sacred bonds of marriage and
live together as “a test drive” or “testing period”, but they
have forsaken the truth of God's word. Many others promote vegan-ism
or vegetarianism and have condemned anyone who dares to eat “meats”.
Paul knew these “apostate” people were “deserters, forsakers
and unfaithful” to the truth of God's word. Timothy needed to be
warned about them, and so should we. May the Lord help us to continue
to be as those who “believe and know the truth”, and let
us be careful that we are not among the apostate and those who follow
lies.
Next
time Paul shares more about these “creatures from God”, so
read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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