Bible Lens—February 27–March 5, 2017
Subject: Man
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
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 Section 2
As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; … saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth.
Jeremiah’s references to a stock and a stone are a reproof of idol worship. Because pagan statues, obelisks, and other images of wood or marble had become objects of veneration among some of the children of Israel, the prophet voices God’s displeasure with the people’s apostasy, or desertion of Him.
Word Study
stock (citation 4, Jeremiah 2:27 ) The Hebrew word ‘ets, translated here as stock, occurs hundreds of times in the Old Testament to describe items of wood, especially trees and timber. In contemporary horticulture, the English word stock still refers to the trunk of a tree or a stem for grafting.
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
In this chapter, me and I refer to wisdom, which is depicted as having existed forever. The Hebrew term ‘owlam is translated here as everlasting, and elsewhere as ever and of old. It is used throughout the Old Testament to signify continuous, perpetual, eternal, or ancient. The emphatic message of the writer is that the wisdom of God transcends time and exists in His presence.
6 | Hebrews 5:5, 6
Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Melchisedec is first mentioned in Scripture as king of Salem and “priest of the most high God” (Genesis 14:18 ). Although little more is known about him, those two titles set him apart in Hebrew history. No other individual served as both king and priest—in fact, the two offices were not considered entirely compatible. But it is this dual role that is meant by “the order of Melchisedec,” a phrase that first appears in Psalms 110:4 .
Like Melchisedec, Christ Jesus did not descend from the Levites, the exclusive source of the priesthood. He was “called of God an high priest” (verse 10 ) and “made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life” (7:16 ).
Though biblical references to Melchisedec are few, he is mentioned in other ancient Jewish literature of the time—in one of the Dead Sea scrolls, and in the writings of the philosopher Philo of Alexandria and the historian Josephus.
from Section 3
8 | Ezekiel 18:1, 2
The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
Ezekiel condemns this proverb, as does his contemporary Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 31:29, 30 ), for claiming that one generation is punished for the sins of another. The rest of the chapter develops his argument. Verses 5–18 , for example, give three hypothetical examples of individual responsibility for one’s actions.
Ezekiel’s message is thought to be directed to exiled Jews who held their ancestors (especially those who committed sins during the reign of King Manasseh of Judah) accountable for their troubles.
from Section 4
13 | John 3:5
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Other than John’s baptism, which the Pharisees rejected (see Luke 7:29, 30 ), this rite had long been associated with the conversion of Gentiles. So to Nicodemus, a Pharisee of high standing, the idea of needing to submit to a baptism of repentance might have seemed incomprehensible, if not humiliating. Jesus uses Nicodemus’ searching questions to give spiritual meaning to the concept of baptism and to explain his Messianic mission of salvation, not condemnation (see verses 16 and 17 ).
14 | I Peter 1:22, 23
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Peter’s mention of unfeigned love has a parallel in Paul’s words, “Let love be without dissimulation” (Romans 12:9 ). And James says that the wisdom from above is “without hypocrisy” (3:17 ). All three verses use the Greek word anypokritos to describe genuineness and sincerity.
In this verse, corruptible (Greek, phthartos) refers to that which is perishable and mortal—a state redeemed by the “sowing” of the seed of eternal life in Christ. As Paul declares to the Christians at Corinth, “This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (I Corinthians 15:53 ).
From the writings of Mary Baker Eddy
Whatever is real is right and eternal; hence the immutable and just law of Science, that God is good only, and can transmit to man and the universe nothing evil, or unlike Himself. For the innocent babe to be born a lifelong sufferer because of his parents’ mistakes or sins, were sore injustice. Science sets aside man as a creator, and unfolds the eternal harmonies of the only living and true origin, God.
Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, pp. 71–72
To learn more about the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons, go to biblelesson.com.
Related Healing Ideas
World’s procession or Master’s footsteps?
By Eleanor Henderson Buser
From the July 9, 1984, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel
A woman, grieving for her dead son, was caught up in a procession of sadness and despair. The biblical account of this widow of Nain shows Christ Jesus’ great compassion in his words to her: “Weep not.” Touching the bier, he stopped the procession and said: “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” And the young man “sat up, and began to speak” (see Luke 7:13–15 ). What a wonder and joy pervaded the people who looked on!
Perhaps you, too, are joining a procession of doubt, fear, or insecurity—uniting, as it were, with the crowd or world around you, taking in all opinions and predictions. Yet Christ Jesus gave mankind the rules for demonstrating peace, for stepping out from mortality’s processions; he promised hope and freedom to the world. He was the Way-shower, proving that spiritual freedom is present and that divine Love is ever active.
A belief in many mortal minds would have us go along with the crowd of material beliefs and mortal opinions. But God, the All-in-all, sustains and guides the man of His creating—the man that is the real spiritual selfhood of each of us.
Christian Science teaches the wisdom and practicality of recognizing one’s sonship with God, the one Mind which controls and produces all right action.
Mary Baker Eddy writes, “We walk in the footsteps of Truth and Love by following the example of our Master in the understanding of divine metaphysics” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 192 ). As we live and demonstrate the Christ, the healing message Jesus brought to mankind, we are joining, so to speak, the gathering that followed Jesus over the countryside; we are following the Christ he taught and demonstrated. His message to the son of the widow of Nain was “Arise.” It was loud and clear. There were no questions, doubts, or diagnosis; no time element was involved. The Master stopped the procession of grief and proceeded to show the ever-presence of Life.
Material laws and world beliefs would bind and enslave the individual. They would call us to join the gathering of a world filled with worriers. As we realize that in reality no such laws exist, we will see evil obliterated by the law of good and will increasingly gain the correct view of ourselves as God’s ideas—His children. We will recognize true peace as being an inward fact, and feel a spiritual liberty that frees us from the route on which disease or discord would send us.
Through the study of Christian Science, men and women realize they are not trapped in materialism. Through prayer and the action of the healing Christ they are released from the inharmonies of sin, sickness, and world beliefs. The individual is liberated and can step out of the promenade of negativeness, apathy, and worry, through the perpetual, spiritual sense of the omnipotence of God, good.
The Bible enjoins us, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1 ). This type of spiritualized thinking unshackles and arouses us to pray daily, for ourselves and for the world, to cast off dire predictions, avowing, “I will not join your procession. I will follow God.”
This article has been shortened to fit this page. To read the entire article, go to
jsh.christianscience.com/world-s-procession-or-master-s-footsteps.
© 2017 The Christian Science Publishing Society. The design of the Cross and Crown is a trademark owned by the Christian Science Board of Directors and is used by permission. Bible Lens and Christian Science Quarterly are trademarks owned by The Christian Science Publishing Society. Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are taken from the King James Version on the Holy Bible.
