Bible Lens—October 31–November 6, 2016
Subject: Adam and Fallen Man
Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.
Exploring Bible Verses
An exploration of Bible citations from the Christian Science Quarterly® Bible Lessons
“. . . a lesson on which the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends."—Mary Baker Eddy
from the Golden Text
God hath made man upright.
Upright, translated from the Hebrew word yasar, means straight, right, righteous, or just. Jeremiah writes, “I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight [yasar] way, wherein they shall not stumble” (31:9 ). And Deuteronomy 13:18 records the charge to “do that which is right [yasar] in the eyes of the Lord thy God.”
from Section 1
1 | Psalms 143:10
Lead me into the land of uprightness.
The “land of uprightness” uses the Hebrew noun miyshowr for uprightness. It’s also the term translated as “even place” in Psalms 26:12 and “plain path” in Psalms 27:11 . The allusion in this verse is to a path of moral rightness—as evidenced by contrasting references to sin as “crooked” ways (see Psalms 125:5 and Proverbs 2:15 , for example). One scholar explains, “God’s presence sustains the solid foundation on which the psalmist stands.”
from Section 2
7 | Genesis 2:21
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept.
“Deep sleep” (Hebrew, tardemah) also describes two later biblical instances of unconsciousness—when Abraham is told of the dark period of slavery to come to his heirs (see Genesis 15:12 ) and when David takes King Saul’s spear from him (see I Samuel 26:12 ).
In Proverbs, tardemah alludes to laziness and inactivity: “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep [tardemah]; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger” (19:15 ).
from Section 3
8 | Genesis 3:2–4
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.
The original warning to Adam was, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17 ). Eve’s wording that they were not to eat of it “lest” they die appears to lack the certainty of the warning. Some see this as the degree of doubt that opened her thought to the serpent’s contradiction, “Ye shall not surely die.”
from Section 4
13 | Luke 13:16
Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
Jesus’ recognition of this woman as a “daughter of Abraham” overruled the practice in Jewish society of treating with shame the diseased or disabled. Similarly, the Master applies the title “son of Abraham” to the despised but regenerated Zacchaeus (citation 15, Luke 19:9 ).
from Section 5
15 | Luke 19:8
Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
Zacchaeus’ four-times restoration of goods has some historical precedent. After hearing the prophet Nathan’s parable about the ewe lamb taken by the rich man, David responded, “He shall restore the lamb fourfold” (II Samuel 12:6 ). And the Mosaic law demanded “four sheep for a sheep” (Exodus 22:1 ) in the case of a stolen sheep. In other instances, the law only called for reimbursement of the amount plus 20 percent (see Leviticus 6:5 ). Zacchaeus’ 400 percent compensation—far beyond what was required—illustrates his great repentance.
from Section 6
17 | Jude 1:24, 25
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.
This doxology concludes Jude’s epistle. His phrase “him that is able” echoes two other New Testament expressions of praise of God—“him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20 ) and “him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ” (Romans 16:25 ). Despite Jude’s concern about false and ungodly influences within the Christian Church (see verse 4 ), he is confident of God’s power to save His people.
About the book of Jude
Only one chapter long, this epistle identifies the writer as “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (Jude 1:1 ). However, not everyone concurs on its authorship. Some scholars accept that it was written by Judas, brother of James (a church leader) and half-brother of Jesus. A majority believe it to be from an anonymous author using a pseudonym.
What is agreed on is the intent of the letter—to warn the emerging Christian Church of false teachers, not from outside but from within its own ranks (see verse 4 ). He exhorts them to build up “yourselves on your most holy faith” and to “keep yourselves in the love of God” (verses 20, 21 ).
Word Study
inventions (citation 6, Ecclesiastes 7:29 ) Used only twice in the Bible, chishshabown, Hebrew for invention, is the term for a mechanical device, sometimes built for purposes of war (see II Chronicles 26:15 , where the word is translated engines). Here it refers to mankind’s efforts to improve lives and conditions by looking to the material senses, rather than to God, for wisdom and joy.
To learn more about the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons, go to biblelesson.com.
Resources quoted in this issue
Cit. 1: Keck, Leander E., et al., eds. The New Interpreter’s Bible: A
Commentary in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 4, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Introduction
to Hebrew Poetry, Job, Psalms. Nashville: Abingdon, 1996–2001.
Related Healing Ideas
Talking snakes?
By Linda Pate Miller
From the July 6, 1987, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel
Marie likes snakes. She has a friend who took his pet snake to school for “show and tell.” It had a nice color and seemed very peaceful in its cage.
Now, this snake didn’t talk. “Why, of course, it didn’t talk!” you might be saying. “Snakes can’t talk!” And you’re right. No real snake has ever said a word.
But the Bible has a story that teaches a lesson about a talking snake. In this story, when a woman called Eve believed that a snake could tell her something true, things went wrong (see Genesis 3 ). Once, Marie’s Christian Science Sunday School class read this story. A talking snake reminded them of the way lies and a liar try to fool you. True thoughts—of peace, goodness, and health—make you smile. Lying thoughts—of hurt or sadness or disobedience—make you afraid. But a talking snake is a lie to begin with and couldn’t tell the truth.
Marie told Mom what she was learning in Sunday School. They thought of a game to play. If Mom or Marie started to listen to any kind of snake-talk, the other would make a snake’s mouth out of her hand, and flap her thumb and fingers to imitate a talking snake.
This looked so silly they both would start laughing. The bad thought or lie wouldn’t have anyone to believe it. Instead, Marie and Mom would feel God’s presence and power close to them.
One evening while Marie and Mom were doing the dishes, Mom suddenly felt very ill. She bent over, and then she found that her legs were covered with blotches. Then Marie remembered their game. “This is snake-talk!” she thought. Then she made her hand flap back and forth right under Mom’s nose (she was still bent over).
Mom saw the hand signal. She stood up slowly. She smiled at Marie. “Why, is that the old snake-talk?” Mom and Marie burst out laughing and hugged each other.
That night when Mom had her bath, she noticed that her legs looked normal again. And that was the end of that snake-talk.
Parent’s note:
The game my daughter and I played came out of a need I felt to learn how to put evil into its proper perspective—to see that it is without power and nothing. Prior to this healing I’d been studying the Bible—the chapter in Genesis—and was most helped by one of Mary Baker Eddy’s insights: “A knowledge of both good and evil (when good is God, and God is All) is impossible. Speaking of the origin of evil, the Master said: ‘When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.’ God warned man not to believe the talking serpent, or rather the allegory describing it” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 24 ).
I loved what Christ Jesus said to his disciples: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19 ).
About five years earlier, when I was not a student of Christian Science, this condition had been diagnosed medically as relating to anemia. The bouts always lasted about a week. Thus my wonder and joy at the power of Christ, Truth, when the symptoms were totally eradicated within an hour.
This article was originally published under the name Linda Reyes Markwood, and has been shortened to fit this page. To read the entire article, go to jsh.christianscience.com/talking-snakes.
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