As
Paul the apostle continued to share how “The
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto
us which are saved it is the power of God”,
he referred to how God would “destroy the wisdom of the wise, and
will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent”. He also
asked, “where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the
disputer of this world”, and he questioned “has not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world?” In
chapter one and verse twenty-two of First Corinthians, Paul continued
his letter by sharing how the
“Jews require a sign”
and “the Greeks seek after
wisdom”
where we read:
For
the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
The
verse begins, “For
the Jews require a sign,...” Paul
began with the word, “For”
which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and
therefore” “the Jews”
which means “since, cause and after the people who belong to,
are birthed in, have origin and religion in the Jewish nation”
“require”
or “ask, beg, call, crave, and desire”
“a sign”
which means “a mark or token which is distinguished from others and
is known or portending remarkable events soon to happen”. Paul, who
was a Jew, knew the Jewish people “desired” a special “token”
which would “mark events soon to happen”.
The
verse continues, “...
and the Greeks seek after wisdom:”.
Paul added
the words, “and the Greeks” which
refers to “the inhabitants of Hellas or Greek speaking people who
are Gentiles or non-Jews” “seek”
which means “crave, demand, strive for and require to find”
“after wisdom”
or “the broad and full of intelligence, knowledge of very diverse
matters and skill in the management of affairs”. The “Greeks”,
or “gentile” people in the world, “desire” “knowledge”
and “intelligence”.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we see the difference between
the “Jews” and the “Greeks”. Jewish people,
according to Paul, wanted to have a “special token” or “mark”
which would signify things that were about to occur, and Greek people
wanted factual “knowledge” and “understanding”. God chose
neither of these to share His “gospel”. He elected “the
foolishness of preaching” to declare His salvation plan which
satisfied neither of these groups of people. God's “wisdom” is
beyond the worldly “wisdom”, and if a person is going to “know
God”, he or she will do so through believing the “good news” of
Jesus Christ neither through “signs” or “worldly
wisdom”.
Next
time Paul declares, “we
preach Christ crucified” which
becomes a “stumbling-block”
to the Jews and
“foolishness”
to the Greeks,
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 www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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