Adam 2 (Jowett – Scriptural Characters)

[Jowett – Scriptural Characters]

SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS, CHARACTER OF ADAM.
SECTION I. ADAM IN INNOCENCY.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

(Genesis 1:1 and Gen 1:26-28.) Continue reading

ablution

ABLUTION. definition a ceremonial washing of the body which has a spiritual meaning.

-DCox


 

Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a particular type of activity, and especially prior to the worship of a deity. This ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt stains; nevertheless, body fluidsare generally considered ritually unclean.

Most of these rituals existed long before the germ theory of disease, and figure prominently from the earliest known religious systems of the Ancient Near East. Some writers remark that similarities between cleansing actions, engaged in by obsessive compulsive people, and those of religious purification rites point to an ultimate origin of the rituals in the personal groomingbehaviour of the primates, but others connect the rituals to primitive taboos.

Some have seen benefits of these practices as a point of health and preventing infections especially in areas where humans come in close contact with each other. While these practices came before the idea of the germ theory was public in areas that use daily cleaning, the destruction of infectious agents seems to be dramatic.[1] Others have described a ‘dimension of purity’ that is universal in religions that seeks to move us away from disgust, (at one extreme) and to uplift us towards purity and divinity, (at the other extreme). Away from uncleanliness to purity, and away from deviant to moral behavior, (within one’s cultural context)

[Wikipedia.org]


 

ABLUTION. A ceremony in use among the ancients, and still practised in several parts of the world. It consisted in washing the body, which was always done before sacrificing, or even entering their houses. Ablutions appear to be as old as any ceremonies, and external worship itself. Moses enjoined them, the heathens adopted them, and Mahomet and his followers have continued them. The Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Jews, all had them. The ancient Christians had their ablutions before communion, which the Romish church still retain before their mass, and sometimes after. The Syrians, Copts, & c. have their solemn washings on Good Friday; the Turks also have their ablutions, their Ghast, their Wodou, Aman,& c.

[Buck]

Adam Parte 1

Adam

Adam’s place in history is very unique. He is the first created human, therefore he is the father of humanity. He and Eve are the first couple, and the first parents of human beings (a kind of secondary creation in that of procreation). Moreover Adam lived in the garden of Eden and apparently saw God face to face, living in perfection with God. The worse infamous element of Adam is that he plunged humanity into sin.

-DCox

Continue reading

Moses Part 2

Moses. [Mo’ses]

Son of Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi, brother of Aaron and Miriam. He was born after the mandate by the king that all male children of the Hebrews were to be killed, but his parents by faith hid him three months, and when he could no longer be hidden he was put in an ark of bulrushes and placed among the reeds in the river. Being found there by Pharaoh’s daughter he was named by her MOSES, signifying ‘drawn out,’ and adopted as her son, being nursed for her by his own mother. He became learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, and was mighty in words and deeds. Continue reading

Assurance

Assurance

Assurance refers usually to the assurance of the believer (or unbelievers in offers of salvation) in God and his promises. Salvation is the greatest issue over which assurance is fought, that being, that once a person is saved, can they lose their salvation, or do they have the assurance that once saved always saved.

If we address this biblically, neither of the positions are biblical. The Bible does not support the idea that once saved you can lose your salvation. This is an unbiblical extreme. The other extreme is also unbiblical. This is the idea that once we “are saved” (usually repeating a prayer and/or being baptized) you can live as you please. The Calvinist idea of perseverance is basically in practice the idea that no matter how sinful you are, because you are elect, you will still go to heaven. This also is not biblical.

Biblical assurance speaks more to the confidence in God that (1) the believer CAN CONFIDE in the promises of his Savior, and (2) God’s surety and faithfulness in fulfilling what he has promised to do. In the end analysis, we do not yet actually “have” salvation (although it is right to say that), but we have the hope that God will save us in the day of eternal judgment of all humans.

-DCox


 

[N] [T] [E]
In the midst of a world filled with uneasiness and insecurity, assurance of a person’s security in God is one of the hallmarks of the authentic Christian life. Such assurance is not based on human resources, abilities, or ingenuity, but on confidence in the caring power of God for believers.
Such divine concern in the life of an individual or a community of faith is not to be likened to some superficial good luck charm or magical incantation that protects a person against the traumas and tragedies of human existence. Instead, assurance in God provides an anchor of confidence and hope (Heb 6:18) in the midst of pain and sorrow, because the believer has learned the secret of casting all worries and cares on God, who is genuinely concerned for people (1 Peter 5:7).
Assurance can be linked to faith and faithfulness (Heb 10:22), because it is one of the ways that the biblical writers describe an authentic relationship with God. While reliance on God is accompanied by the confidence that God is intimately involved in the lives of believers (1 John 5:14), faith in God does not earn a sense of security or assurance. Moreover, it cannot be achieved by attendance at church, by works of kindness, or by ecclesiastical pardon. The foundation for the assurance of one’s salvation or well-being with God is rooted in a divine gift. God is the provider of salvation in Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 2 Col 5:18-19). Moreover, it is God who will bring to completion this divine gift (Php 1:6). It is this assurance that God continues to work in the lives of believers that is the basis for the Christian doctrine of perseverance—endurance or continuing response to God’s leading (Eph 6:18; Heb 12:1; James 1:25). Assurance and perseverance are two sides of the same message.
Assurance of a relationship with God in Christ is the way believers express the mysterious connection between the infinite nature of God and the fallible nature of humanity. Life with God (whether in ancient Israel or in Christianity) is a dynamic reality, not some chess game in which God moves all the pawns and kings without reference to human response (note the amazing conditional statement in Jer 18:7-10). Resisting temptation (with divine help cf. Matt 6:13; 1 John 5:14) is a key to sense of security in God (cf. 1 Col 10:13; James 4:7). Evil and the devil are not some toys with which believers can play (1 Peter 5:8-9).
But believers are not left to their own resources. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers is a guarantee or assurance that God is at work in believers’ lives (2 Col 1:22; 5:5). It is through the Spirit that believers know the reality of God’s presence in their lives (1 John 4:13). Forces external to them will never be able to separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:35-39); no power (symbolized by robber or wolf) is able to steal believers (symbolized by sheep) out of the loving arms of God’s Son (John 10:28).
This sense of assurance for believers is not merely limited to the present era on earth, but the resurrection of Jesus assures Christians that they are not deluded in their expectation of a future hope with their Lord (1 Co 15:17-20). The resurrection of Jesus is the powerful guarantee that Christian preaching and faith are not in vain (v. 14). The Holy Spirit’s presence provides assurance that Christians will receive their promised inheritance with God (Eph 1:14).
Gerald L. Borchert
See also Confidence; Endurance
Bibliography. G. L. Borchert, Assurance and Warning; D. A. Carson, Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility; I. H. Marshall, Kept by the Power.
——————————————————————————–
[N] indicates this entry was also found in Nave’s Topical Bible
[T] indicates this entry was also found in Torrey’s Topical Textbook
[E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton’s Bible Dictionary

BED


 

<A-1,Noun,4102,pistis>
“faith,” has the secondary meaning of “an assurance or guarantee,” e.g., Act 17:31; by raising Christ from the dead, God has given “assurance” that the world will be judged by Him (the AV margin, “offered faith” does not express the meaning). Cp. 1Ti 5:12, where “faith” means “pledge.” See BELIEF, FAITH, FIDELITY.

<A-2,Noun,4136,plerophoria>
“a fullness, abundance,” also means “full assurance, entire confidence;” lit., a “full-carrying” (pleros, “full,” phero, “to carry”). Some explain it as full fruitfulness (cp. RV, “fullness” in Heb 6:11). In 1Th 1:5 it describes the willingness and freedom of spirit enjoyed by those who brought the Gospel to Thessalonica; in Col 2:2, the freedom of mind and confidence resulting from an understanding in Christ; in Heb 6:11 (AV, “full assurance,” RV, “fullness”), the engrossing effect of the expectation of the fulfillment of God’s promises; in Heb 10:22, the character of the faith by which we are to draw near to God. See FULLNESS.

<A-3,Noun,5287,hupostasis>
lit., “a standing under, support” (hupo, “under,” histemi, “to stand”), hence, an “assurance,” is so rendered in Heb 11:1, RV, for AV, “substance.” It here may signify a title-deed, as giving a guarantee, or reality. See CONFIDENCE, PERSON, SUBSTANCE.

Note: In Act 16:10, for the AV (of sumbibazomai), “assuredly gathering,” see CONCLUDE.

<B-1,Verb,4104,pistoo>
“to trust or give assurance to” (cp. A, No. 1), has a secondary meaning, in the Passive Voice, “to be assured of,” 2Ti 3:14.

<B-2,Verb,4135,plerophoreo>
akin to A, No. 2, “to bring in full measure, to fulfill,” also signifies “to be fully assured,” Rom 4:21, RV, of Abraham’s faith. In Rom 14:5 it is said of the apprehension of the will of God. So in Col 4:12 in the best mss. In these three places it is used subjectively, with reference to an effect upon the mind. For its other and objective use, referring to things external, see FULFILL; see also BELIEVE, KNOW, PERSUADE, PROOF. In the Sept., Ecc 8:11.

<B-3,Verb,3782,peitho>
“to persuade,” is rendered “assure” in 1Jo 3:19 (marg., “persuade”), where the meaning is that of confidence toward God consequent upon loving in deed and in truth. See BELIEVE, CONFIDENCE, FRIEND, OBEY, PERSUADE, TRUST, YIELD.

<C-1,Adverb,806,asphalos>
means (a) “safely,” Mar 14:44; Act 16:23; (b) “assuredly,” Act 2:36; the knowledge there enjoined involves freedom from fear of contradiction, with an intimation of the impossibility of escape from the effects. See SAFELY.


God wants believers to be assured of their salvation. He wants them to know without doubt that, having repented and trusted in Jesus, they have eternal life and will never perish (Joh 3:16; 6:47; 10:28; Heb 6:11,17-20; 7:25; 1Pe 1:23; 1Jo 5:12-13). God promises believers eternal security, and his promises are certain. God is faithful, and his promises can be trusted (Joh 6:37; Rom 10:13; 1Th 5:24; 2Ti 2:19; Heb 10:22-23; 1Pe 1:5).
What God has done
Believers have this assurance because their salvation depends not on anything they have done, but on what God has done for them in Christ. Through Christ’s death, God has forgiven their sins and brought them into a new relationship with himself. God now accepts them as being ‘in Christ’ (Rom 3:24-25; 5:1; 8:1,33-34; Eph 1:7; Heb 10:14,17-18,22; Jude 24; see FORGIVENESS; JUSTIFICATION).
Further assurance comes from the fact of God’s election. In his sovereign will and grace, God has elected, or chosen, believers to be his children, to have eternal life, to escape the wrath of God, and to share with Christ in the full blessings of the age to come (Joh 1:12-13; 6:37-39; Rom 8:29-30; Eph 1:4; 1Th 1:4; 5:9; 2Ti 1:9; see ELECTION). Nothing can separate them from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39; Eph 2:4-5), and they receive from God the gift of the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of their eternal salvation. The Holy Spirit is God’s mark of ownership upon them (2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30; 1Jo 4:13).
The response of believers
These great facts are all concerned with what God has done, and they are the basis of true assurance. In addition, however, believers are aware within themselves that they are children of God (Rom 8:16).
This added assurance within believers comes from a variety of experiences relating to their new life. Such experiences include their desire to obey God (1Jo 2:3-6), their sensitivity to sin (2Ti 2:19; 1Jo 3:4-10,19-21), their awareness of God’s discipline in their lives (Heb 12:5-8), their love for others (1Jo 3:14-15), their desire to know more of God and his Word (1Pe 2:2-3), and their constant perseverance in the faith (Mar 4:18-20; 1Pe 1:6-9; Heb 6:11-12). Without these evidences of a changed life, those who claim to have assurance of salvation are deceiving themselves (Tit 1:16; 1Jo 2:4,9-11; 3:10; cf. Mat 7:22-23, 25:41-46). (See also BACKSLIDING; PERSEVERANCE.)

[Bridgeway]
The resurrection of Jesus (Acts 17:31) is the “assurance” (Gr. pistis, generally rendered “faith”) or pledge God has given that his revelation is true and worthy of acceptance. The “full assurance [Gr. plerophoria, ‘full bearing’] of faith” (Heb. 10:22) is a fulness of faith in God which leaves no room for doubt. The “full assurance of understanding” (Col. 2:2) is an entire unwavering conviction of the truth of the declarations of Scripture, a joyful steadfastness on the part of any one of conviction that he has grasped the very truth. The “full assurance of hope” (Heb. 6:11) is a sure and well-grounded expectation of eternal glory (2 Tim. 4:7, 8). This assurance of hope is the assurance of a man’s own particular salvation.

This infallible assurance, which believers may attain unto as to their own personal salvation, is founded on the truth of the promises (Heb. 6:18), on the inward evidence of Christian graces, and on the testimony of the Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:16). That such a certainty may be attained appears from the testimony of Scripture (Rom. 8:16; 1 John 2:3; 3:14), from the command to See k after it (Heb. 6:11; 2 Pet. 1:10), and from the fact that it has been attained (2 Tim. 1:12; 4:7, 8; 1 John 2:3; 4:16).

This full assurance is not of the essence of saving faith. It is the result of faith, and posterior to it in the order of nature, and so frequently also in the order of time. True believers may be destitute of it. Trust itself is something different from the evidence that we do trust. Believers, moreover, are exhorted to go on to something beyond what they at present have when they are exhorted to See k the grace of full assurance (Heb. 10:22; 2 Pet. 1:5-10). The attainment of this grace is a duty, and is to be diligently sought.

“Genuine assurance naturally leads to a legitimate and abiding peace and joy, and to love and thankfulness to God; and these from the very laws of our being to greater buoyancy, strength, and cheerfulness in the practice of obedience in every department of duty.”

This assurance may in various ways be shaken, diminished, and intermitted, but the principle out of which it springs can never be lost. (See FAITH)

[Easton]


a-shoor’-ans:

A term exceptionally rich in spiritual meaning. It signifies the joyous, unwavering confidence of an intelligent faith; the security of a fearless trust. The original words have to do with the heart of vital religion. baTach, “trust”; ‘aman, “to prop,” “to support,” hence to confide in, to trust. Jesus repeatedly used this word “amen” to express the trustworthiness and abiding certainty of his sayings. pistis, “faith”; plerophoria, “full assurance.” The confidence of faith is based, not on “works of righteousness which we have done” (compare Titus 3:4; Titus 3:5 the King James Version) but on the highpriesthood and atoning sacrifice of Christ.

(Heb 10:21; Heb 10:22; compare He 10:19, “boldness to enter …. by the blood of Jesus,” the King James Version). Assurance is the soul’s apprehension of its complete emancipation from the power of evil and from consequent judgment, through the atoning grace of Christ. It is the exact opposite of self-confidence, being a joyous appropriation and experience of the fullness of Christ–a glad sense of security, freedom and eternal life in Him. This doctrine is of immeasurable importance to the life of the church and of the individual believer, as a life of spiritual doubt and uncertainty contradicts the ideal of liberty in Christ Jesus which is the natural and necessary fruitage of “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit …. shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” Paul unhesitatingly said, “I know” (2Ti 1:12)–a word which, oft-repeated in 1 Jn, furnishes the groundwork of glad assurance that runs through the entire epistle. For the classic passage on “full assurance” see Col 2:1-10.

Dwight M. Pratt

[ISBE]


Assurance.

This word has in the O.T. a different application from that which it has in the N.T. In the former it is ‘confidence or trust,’ and agrees with the hopes of God’s earthly people in connection with the security in which Israel will dwell when restored to their land, when all their enemies shall have been put down by divine power: the effect of righteousness will be “quietness and assurance for ever,” Isa. 32:17: whereas in their disobedience they should fear day and night and have no assurance of their life. Deut. 28:66.

In the N.T. the Greek word plhroforia implies ‘full assurance’ and refers to eternal salvation. The gospel reaches a soul in power, and in the Holy Ghost and in ‘much full assurance.’ 1 Thess. 1:5. We also meet with:

1, the full assurance of faith, Heb. 10:22; the reception of God’s testimony respecting the work of Christ and the glory He now enjoys:

2, the full assurance of hope, Heb. 6:11, issuing in continued diligence of the saints in their work and labour of love: and

3, the full assurance of understanding, Col. 2:2, for full knowledge in the mystery of God.

[Morrish]


• Produced by faith
Eph 3:12; 2Tim 1:12; Heb 10:22

• Made full by hope
Heb 6:11; Heb 6:19

• Confirmed by love
1John 3:14; 1John 3:19; 1John 4:18

• Is the effect of righteousness
Isa 32:17

• Is abundant in the understanding of the gospel
Col 2:2; 1Thess 1:5

• Saints privileged to have, assurance of:

– Their election
Ps 4:3; 1Thess 1:4

– Their redemption
Job 19:25

– Their adoption
Rom 8:16; 1John 3:2

– Their salvation
Isa 12:2

– Their eternal life
1John 5:13

– The unalienable love of God
Rom 8:38-39

– Union with God and Christ
1Cor 6:15; 2Cor 13:5; Eph 5:30; 1John 2:5; 1John 4:13

– Peace with God by Christ
Rom 5:1

– Preservation
Ps 3:6; Ps 8:1-9; Ps 27:3-5; Ps 46:1-3

– Answers to prayer
1John 3:22; 1John 5:14-15

– Comfort in affliction
Ps 73:26; Luke 4:18; 2Cor 4:8-10; 2Cor 4:16-18

– Continuance in grace
Phil 1:6

– A support in death
Ps 23:4

– A glorious resurrection
Job 19:26; Ps 17:15; Phil 3:21; 1John 3:2

– A kingdom
Heb 12:28; Rev 5:10

– A crown
2Tim 4:7-8; Jas 1:12

– Saints give diligence to attain
2Pet 1:10-11

– Strive to maintain
Heb 3:14; Heb 3:18

– Confident hope in God restores
Ps 42:11

• Exemplified by:

– David
Ps 23:4; Ps 73:24-26

– Paul
2Tim 1:12; 2Tim 4:18 Faith

[Naves]

Assurance
David Cox’s Topical Bible Concordance

Assurance.
Produced by faith Eph 3:12; 2Ti 1:12; Heb 10:22
Made full by hope Heb 6:11,19
Confirmed by love 1Jo 3:14,19; 4:18
Is the effect of righteousness Isa 32:17
Is abundant in the understanding of the gospel Col 2:2; 1Th 1:5
Saints privileged to have, of
Their election. Ps 4:3; 1Th 1:4
Their redemption. Job 19:25
Their adoption. Ro 8:16; 1Jo 3:2
Their salvation. Isa 12:2
Eternal life. 1Jo 5:13
The unalienable love of God. Ro 8:38,39
Union with God and Christ. 1Co 6:15; 2Co 13:5; Eph 5:30; 1Jo 2:5; 4:13
Peace with God by Christ. Ro 5:1
Preservation. Ps 3:6,8; 27:3-5; 46:1-3
Answers to prayer. 1Jo 3:22; 5:14,15
Continuance in grace. Php 1:6
Comfort in affliction. Ps 73:26; Lu 4:18,19; 2Co 4:8-10,16-18
Support in death. Ps 23:4
A glorious resurrection. Job 19:26; Ps 17:15; Php 3:21; 1Jo 3:2
A kingdom. Heb 12:28; Re 5:10
A crown. 2Ti 4:7,8; Jas 1:12
Give diligence to attain to 2Pe 1:10,11
Strive to maintain Heb 3:14,18
Confident hope in God restores Ps 42:11
Exemplified
David. Ps 23:4; 73:24-26
Paul. 2Ti 1:12; 4:18

Archangel

Archangel

See also Angel

An angel is simply a spiritual being that serves God. Within this order of beings, there appears to be a separation of some from the others into positions of authority one over overs. These “archangels” are leaders over the angels, and/or possibly also authorities over positions and ministries, like an archangel over each nation as in Daniel.

In my book on angels, I make the point that “angel” is a difficult concept to understand. There is the possibility that “angel” is a general broad concept that gathers up in that all of the spiritual beings at the service of God. Demons were angels, but nowhere are demons or “fallen angels” ever referred to as “angel”. They lost they name in losing their relationship with their Creator. So possibly all good spiritual being are called angels. The other possibility is that there are a hole host of spiritual being that serve God Cheribum, Seraphim, Angels, etc. and angels are only one single “part” or member of this host. This makes more sense because technically, an angel is a messenger, and those spiritual beings that are not used as messengers, and stand around the throne of God shouting “Holy, Holy, Holy” are not technically an angel.


ARCHANGEL
This world is only twice used in the Bible, 1Th 4:16; Jude 1:9. In this last passage it is applied to Michael, who, in Da 10:13, 21; 12:1, is described as having a special charge of the Jewish nation, and in Rev 12:7-9 as the leader of an angelic army. So exalted are the position and offices ascribed to Michael, that many think the Messiah is meant.

[AmTrac]


 

Michael the Archangel

In Daniel he is called ‘one of the chief princes,’ ‘your prince,’ ‘the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.’ He went to the assistance of one (probably an angel) who had been sent with a message to Daniel, but who had been detained twenty-one days by the prince of the kingdom of Persia (doubtless Satan, or one of Satan’s angels, who was acting for the kingdom of Persia, as Michael was prince for the children of Israel). Da 10:13,21 12:1. It is also said of Michael that when he contended with Satan about the body of Moses, he durst not bring a railing accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke thee.” Michael and his angels will however fight with Satan and his angels, and will prevail, and Satan will be cast out of that portion of heaven to which he now has access. Jude 9 Re 12:7 : cf. Job 1:6 2:1. These are illustrations of the conflict of good and evil spirits in the unseen universe.

[Morrish]


 

<1,,743,archangelos>
“is not found in the OT, and in the NT only in 1Th 4:16 and Jud 1:9, where it is used of Michael, who in Daniel is called ‘one of the chief princes,’ and ‘the great prince’ (Sept., ‘the great angel’), Dan 10:13, Dan 10:21; Dan 12:1. Cp. also Rev 12:7 …. Whether there are other beings of this exalted rank in the heavenly hosts, Scripture does not say, though the description ‘one of the chief princes’ suggests that this may be the case; cp. also Rom 8:38; Eph 1:21; Col 1:16, where the word translated ‘principalities’ is arche, the prefix in archangel.” * [* From Notes on Thessalonians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 142.] In 1Th 4:16 the meaning seems to be that the voice of the Lord Jesus will be of the character of an “archangelic” shout.

[Vine NT]

 

Apostle

“Apostle” means somebody sent with a commission to represent or to accomplish some task. This is essentially an embassador (political context) or a missionary (religious context).

Apostle
• An appellation of Jesus
Heb 3:1 Apostles

[Naves]


 

Apostle

(one sent forth), in the New Testament originally the official name of those twelve of the disciples whom Jesus chose to send forth first to preach the gospel and to be with him during the course of his ministry on earth. The word also appears to have been used in a non-official sense to designate a much wider circle of Christian messengers and teachers See (2 Corinthians 8:23; Philemon 2:25) It is only of those who were officially designated apostles that we treat in the article. Their names are given in (Matthew 10:2-4) and Christ’s charge to them in the rest of the chapter. Their office. — (1) The original qualification of an apostle, as stated by St. Peter on the occasion of electing a successor to the traitor Judas, was that he should have been personally acquainted with the whole ministerial course of our Lord from his baptism by John till the day when he was taken up into heaven. (2) They were chosen by Christ himself (3) They had the power of working miracles. (4) They were inspired. (John 16:13) (5) Their world seems to have been pre-eminently that of founding the churches and upholding them by supernatural power specially bestowed for that purpose. (6) The office ceased, a matter of course, with its first holders-all continuation of it, from the very condition of its existence (cf. (1 Corinthians 9:1)), being impossible. Early history and training .–The apostles were from the lower ranks of life, simple and uneducated; some of them were related to Jesus according to the flesh; some had previously been disciples of John the Baptist. Our Lord chose them early in his public career They seem to have been all on an equality, both during and after the ministry of Christ on earth. Early in our Lord’s ministry he sent them out two and two to preach repentance and to perform miracles in his name Matt 10; Luke 9. They accompanied him in his journey, saw his wonderful works, heard his discourses addressed to the people, and made inquiries of him on religious matters. They recognized him as the Christ of God, (Matthew 16:16; Luke 9:20) and described to him supernatural power (Luke 9:54) but in the recognition of the spiritual teaching and mission of Christ they made very low progress, held back as they were by weakness of apprehension and by national prejudices. Even at the removal of our Lord from the earth they were yet weak in their knowledge, (Luke 24:21; John 16:12) though he had for so long been carefully preparing and instructing them. On the feast of Pentecost, ten days after our Lord’s ascension, the Holy Spirit came down on the assembled church, Acts 2; and from that time the apostles became altogether different men, giving witness with power of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, as he had declared they should. (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8; Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 13:31) Later labors and history. –First of all the mother-church at Jerusalem grew up under their hands, Acts 3-7, and their superior dignity and power were universally acknowledged by the rulers and the people. (Acts 5:12) ff. Their first mission out of Jerusalem was to Samaria (Acts 8:5-25) where the Lord himself had, during his ministry, sown the seed of the gospel. Here ends the first period of the apostles’ agency, during which its centre is Jerusalem and the prominent figure is that of St. Peter. The centre of the second period of the apostolic agency is Antioch, where a church soon was built up, consisting of Jews and Gentiles; and the central figure of this and of the subsequent period is St. Paul. The third apostolic period is marked by the almost entire disappearance of the twelve from the sacred narrative and the exclusive agency of St. Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles. Of the missionary work of the rest of the twelve we know absolutely nothing from the sacred narrative.

[Smith]


 

APOSTLE

A messenger or envoy. The term is applied to Jesus Christ, who was God’s envoy to save the world, Heb 3:1; though, more commonly, the title is given to persons who were envoys commissioned by the Savior himself.

The apostles of Jesus Christ were his chief disciples, whom he invested with authority, filled with his Spirit, entrusted particularly with his doctrines and services, and chose to raise the edifice of his church. They were twelve in number, answering to the twelve tribes. Mt 19:28, and were plain, unlearned men, chosen from the common people. After their calling and charge, Mt 10:5-42, they attended their divine Master, witnessing his works, imbibing his spirit, and gradually learning the facts and doctrines of the gospel. After his resurrection, he sent them into all the world, commissioned to preach, to baptize, to work miracles, etc. See Joh 15:27 1Co 9:1; 15:8; 2Co 12:12; 1Th 2:13. The names of the twelve are, Simon Peter; Andrew, his brother; James, the son of Zebedee, called also “the greater;” John, his brother; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew, or Levi; Simon the Canaanite; Lebbeus, surnamed Thaddeus, also called Judas or Jude; James, “the less,” the son of Alphaeus; and Judas Iscariot, Mt 10:2-4; Mr 3:16; Lu 6:14. The last betrayed his Master, and then hanged himself, and Matthias was chosen in his place, Ac 1:15-26. In the Acts of the Apostles are recorded the self-sacrificing toils and sufferings of these Christlike men, who did that which was “right in the sight of God” from love to their Lord; and gave themselves wholly to their work, with a zeal, love, and faith Christ delighted to honor-teaching us that apostolic graces alone can secure apostolic successes.

[AmTrac]


Apostle

(“one sent forth”.) The official name of the twelve whom Jesus sent forth to preach, and who also were with Him throughout His earthly ministry. Peter states the qualifications before the election of Judas’ successor (Act 1:21), namely, that he should have companied with the followers of Jesus “all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them, beginning from the baptism of John unto the day that He was taken up, to be a witness with the others of His resurrection.” So the Lord, “Ye are they that have continued with Me in My temptations” (Luk 22:28). The Holy Spirit was specially promised to bring all things to their remembrance whatever Jesus had said, to guide them into all truth, and to enable them to testify of Jesus with power to all lands (Joh 14:26; Joh 15:26-27; Joh 16:13-14). They were some of them fishermen, one a tax collector, and most of them unlearned.
Though called before, they did not permanently follow Him until their call as apostles. All were on a level (Mat 20:20-27; Mar 9:34-36). Yet three stood in especial nearness to Him, Peter, James, and John; they alone witnessed the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the transfiguration, and the agony in Gethsemane. An order grounded on moral considerations is traceable in the enumeration of the rest: Judas, the traitor, in all the lists stands last. The disciples surrounded Jesus in wider and still wider expanding circles: nearest Him Peter, James, and. John; then the other nine; then the Seventy; then the disciples in general. But the “mystery” was revealed to all alike (Mat 10:27). Four catalogues are extant: Matthew’s (Matthew 10), Mark’s (Mar 3:16), Luke’s (Luk 6:14) in the Gospel, and Luke’s in Act 1:13.

In all four the apostles are grouped in three classes, four in each. Philip heads the second division, i.e. is fifth; James the son of Alpheus heads the third, i.e. is ninth. Andrew follows Peter on the ground of brotherhood in Matthew and Luke; in Mark and Acts James and John, on the ground of greater nearness to Jesus, precede Andrew. In the second division Matthew modestly puts himself after Thomas; Mark and Luke give him his rightful place before Thomas. Thomas, after his doubts were removed (Joh 20:28), having attained distinguished faith, is promoted above Bartholomew (or Nathanael) and Matthew in Acts. In Matt, hew and Mark Thaddaeus (or Lebbaeus) precedes Simon Zelotes (Hebrew “Canaanite,” i.e. one of the sect the Zealots). But in Luke and Acts Simon Zelotes precedes Jude (Thaddaeus) the brother of James. John gives no catalogue, but writing later takes it for granted (Rev 21:14; Rev 21:19-20).

In the first division stand Peter and John, New Testament writers, in the second Matthew, in the third James and Jude. The Zealot stood once the last except the traitor, but subsequently became raised; bigotry is not always the best preparation for subsequent high standing in faith. Jesus sent them in pairs: a good plan for securing brotherly sympathy and cooperation. Their early mission in Jesus’ lifetime, to preach repentance and perform miracles in Jesus’ name, was restricted to Israel, to prepare the way for the subsequent gospel preaching to the Jews first, on and after Pentecost (Act 3:25). They were slow to apprehend the spiritual nature of His kingdom, and His crucifixion and resurrection as the necessary preliminary to it. Even after His resurrection seven of them returned to their fishing; and it was only by Christ’s renewed call that they were led’ to remain together at Jerusalem, waiting for the promised Comforter (John 21; Act 1:4).

From the day of the Pentecostal effusion of the Holy Spirit they became new men, witnessing with power of the resurrection of Jesus, as Jesus had promised (Luk 24:45; Luk 24:49; Act 1:8; Act 1:22; Act 2:32; Act 3:15; Act 5:32; Act 13:31). The first period of the apostles’ working extends down to Act 11:18. Excepting the transition period (Acts 8-10) when, at Stephen’s martyrdom, the gospel was extended to Samaria and. to the Ethiopian eunuch by Philip, Jerusalem is its center, and Peter’ the prominent figure, who opened the kingdom of heaven (according to Jesus’ promise to him, Mat 16:18-19) to the Jews and also to the Gentiles (Acts 2; 10). The second period begins with the extension of the kingdom to idolatrous Gentiles. (Act 11:19-26).
Antioch, in concert with Jerusalem, is now the center, and Paul the prominent figure, in concert with the other apostles. Though the ideal number always remained twelve (Rev 21:14), answering to the twelve tribes of Israel, yet just as there were in fact thirteen tribes when Joseph’s two sons were made separate tribal heads, so Paul’s calling made thirteen actual apostles. He possessed the two characteristics of an Apostle; he had” seen the Lord,” so as to be an eye witness of His resurrection, and he had the power which none but an Apostle had, of conferring spiritual gifts (1Co 9:1-2; 2Co 12:12; Rom 1:11; Rom 15:18-19). This period ends with Act 13:1-5, when Barnabas and Saul were separated by the Holy Spirit unto missionary work. Here the third apostolic period begins, in which the twelve disappear, and Paul alone stands forth, the Apostle of the Gentiles; so that at the close of Acts, which leaves him evangelizing in Rome, the metropolis of the world, churches from Jerusalem unto Illyricum had been founded through him.
“Apostle” is used in a vaguer sense of “messengers of the churches” (2Co 8:23; Phi 2:25). But the term belongs in its stricter sense to the twelve alone; they alone were apostles of Christ. Their distinctive note is, they were commissioned immediately by Jesus Himself. They alone were chosen by Christ Himself, independently of the churches. So even Matthias (Act 1:24). So Paul (Gal 1:1-12; Rom 1:1; 1Co 15:9-10). Their exclusive office was to found the Christian church; so their official existence was of Christ, and prior to the churches they collectively and severally founded. They acted with a divine authority to bind and loose things (Mat 18:18), and to remit or retain sins of persons (Joh 20:21-23), which they exercised by the authoritative ministry of the word. Their infallibility, of which their miracles were the credentials, marked them as extraordinary, not permanent, ministers.
Paul requires the Corinthians to acknowledge that the things which he wrote were the Lord’s commandments (1Co 14:37). The office was not local; but “the care of all the churches.” They were to the whole what particular elders were, to parts of the church (1Pe 5:1; 2Jo 1:1). Apostles therefore could have strictly no successors. John, while superintending the whole, was especially connected with the churches of Asia Minor, Paul with the W., Peter with Babylon. The bishops in that age coexisted with, and did not succeed officially, the apostles. James seems specially to have had a presidency in Jerusalem (Act 15:19; Act 21:18).

Once the Lord Himself is so designated, “the Apostle of our profession” (Heb 3:1); the, Ambassador sent from the Father (Joh 20:21). As Apostle He pleads God’s cause with us; as” High Priest,” our cause with God. Appropriate in writing to Hebrew, since the Hebrew high priest sent delegates (“apostles”) to collect the temple tribute from Jews in foreign countries, just as Christ is the Father’s Delegate to claim the Father’s due from His subjects in this world far off from Him (Mat 21:37).


 

Apostle

a-pos’-l ([ @apostolos], literally, “one sent forth,” an envoy, missionary): For the meaning of this name as it meets us in the New Testament, reference is sometimes made to classical and Jewish parallels. In earlier classical Greek there was a distinction between an aggelos or messenger and an apostolos, who was not a mere messenger, but a delegate or representative of the person who sent him. In the later Judaism, again, apostoloi were envoys sent out by the patriarchate in Jerusalem to collect the sacred tribute from the Jews of the Dispersion. It seems unlikely, however, that either of these uses bears upon the Christian origin of a term which, in any case, came to have its own distinctive Christian meaning. To understand the word as we find it in the New Testament it is not necessary to go beyond the New Testament itself. To discover the source of its Christian use it is sufficient to refer to its immediate and natural signification. The term used by Jesus, it must be remembered, would be Aramaic, not Greek, and apostolos would be its literal equivalent.

1. The Twelve:

In the New Testament history we first hear of the term as applied by Jesus to the Twelve in connection with that evangelical mission among the villages on which He dispatched them at an early stage of His public ministry (Matt 10:1; Mark 3:14; Mark 6:30; Luke 6:13; Luke 9:1). From a comparison of the Synoptics it would seem that the name as thus used was not a general designation for the Twelve, but had reference only to this particular mission, which was typical and prophetic, however, of the wider mission that was to come (compare Hort, Christian Ecclesia, 23-29). Luke, it is true, uses the word as a title for the Twelve apart from reference to the mission among the villages. But the explanation probably is, as Dr. Hort suggests, that since the Third Gospel and the Book of Ac formed two sections of what was really one work, the author in the Gospel employs the term in that wider sense which it came to have after the Ascension.

When we pass to Acts, “apostles” has become an ordinary name for the Eleven (Acts 1:2; Acts 1:26), and after the election of Matthias in place of Judas, for the Twelve (2:37,42,43, etc.). But even so it does not denote a particular and restricted office, but rather that function of a world-wide missionary service to which the Twelve were especially called. In His last charge, just before He ascended, Jesus had commissioned them to go forth into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Matt 28:19; Matt 28:20; Mark 16:15). He had said that they were to be His witnesses not only in Jerusalem and Judea, but in Samaria (contrast Mt 10:5), and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Ac 1:8). They were apostles, therefore, qua missionaries–not merely because they were the Twelve, but because they were now sent forth by their Lord on a universal mission for the propagation of the gospel.

2. Paul:

The very fact that the name “apostle” means what it does would point to the impossibility of confining it within the limits of the Twelve. (The “twelve apostles” of Re 21:14 is evidently symbolic; compare in 7:3 ff the restriction of God’s sealed servants to the twelve tribes.) Yet there might be a tendency at first to do so, and to restrict it as a badge of honor and privilege peculiar to that inner circle (compare Ac 1:25). If any such tendency existed, Paul effectually broke it down by vindicating for himself the right to the name. His claim appears in his assumption of the apostolic title in the opening words of most of his epistles. And when his right to it was challenged, he defended that right with passion, and especially on these grounds: that he had seen Jesus, and so was qualified to bear witness to His resurrection (1Co 9:1; compare Ac 22:6 ff); that he had received a call to the work of an apostle (Rom 1:1; 1Cor 1:1, etc.; Ga 2:7; compare Acts 13:2; Acts 22:21); but, above all, that he could point to the signs and seals of his apostleship furnished by his missionary labors and their fruits (1Cor 9:2; 2Cor 12:12; Gal 2:8). It was by this last ground of appeal that Paul convinced the original apostles of the justice of his claim. He had not been a disciple of Jesus in the days of His flesh; his claim to have seen the risen Lord and from Him to have received a personal commission was not one that could be proved to others; but there could be no possibility of doubt as to the seals of his apostleship. It was abundantly clear that “he that wrought for Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision wrought for (Paul) also unto the Gentiles” (Ga 2:8). And so perceiving the grace that was given unto him, Peter and John, together with James of Jerusalem, recognized Paul as apostle to the Gentiles and gave him the right hand of fellowship (Ga 2:9).

3. The Wider Circle:

It is sometimes said by those who recognize that there were other apostles besides the Twelve and Paul that the latter (to whom some, on the ground of 1Cor 15:7; Gal 1:19, would add James the Lord’s brother) were the apostles par excellence, while the other apostles mentioned in the New Testament were apostles in some inferior sense. It is hardly possible, however, to make out such a distinction on the ground of New Testament usage. There were great differences, no doubt, among the apostles of the primitive church, as there were among the Twelve themselves–differences due to natural talents, to personal acquirements and experience, to spiritual gifts. Paul was greater than Barnabas or Silvanus, just as Peter and John were greater than Thaddaeus or Simon the Cananean.

But Thaddaeus and Simon were disciples of Jesus in the very same sense as Peter and John; and the Twelve and Paul were not more truly apostles than others who are mentioned in the New Testament. If apostleship denotes missionary service, and if its reality, as Paul suggests, is to be measured by its seals, it would be difficult to maintain that Matthias was an apostle par excellence, while Barnabas was not. Paul sets Barnabas as an apostle side by side with himself (1Cor 9:5; Gal 2:9; compare Acts 13:2; Acts 14:4; Acts 14:14); he speaks of Andronicus and Junias as “of note among the apostles” (Ro 16:7); he appears to include Apollos along with himself among the apostles who are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men (1Cor 4:6; 1Cor 4:9); the natural inference from a comparison of 1Th 1:1 with 2:6 is that he describes Silvanus and Timothy as “apostles of Christ”; to the Philippians he mentions Epaphroditus as “your apostle” (Php 2:25 the Revised Version, margin), and to the Corinthians commends certain unknown brethren as “the apostles of the churches” and “the glory of Christ” (2Co 8:23 the Revised Version, margin). And the very fact that he found it necessary to denounce certain persons as “false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ” (2Co 11:13) shows that there was no thought in the primitive church of restricting the apostleship to a body of 12 or 13 men. “Had the number been definitely restricted, the claims of these interlopers would have been self-condemned” (Lightfoot, Galatians, 97).

4. Apostles in Didache:

When we come to the Didache, which probably lies beyond the boundary-line of New Testament history, we find the name “apostles” applied to a whole class of nameless missionaries–men who settled in no church, but moved about from place to place as messengers of the gospel (chapter 11). This makes it difficult to accept the view, urged by Lightfoot (op. cit., 98) and Gwatkin (HDB, I, 126) on the ground Of Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8; Acts 1:22; 1Cor 9:1, that to have seen the Lord was always the primary qualification of an apostle–a view on the strength of which they reject the apostleship of Apollos and Timothy, as being late converts to Christianity who lived far from the scenes of our Lord’s ministry. Gwatkin remarks that we have no reason to suppose that this condition was ever waived unless we throw forward the Didache into the 2nd century. But it seems very unlikely that even toward the end of the 1st century there would be a whole class of men, not only still alive, but still braving in the exercise of their missionary functions all the hardships of a wandering and homeless existence (compare Didache 11:4-6), who were yet able to bear the personal testimony of eye-witnesses to the ministry and resurrection of Jesus. In Lu 24:48 and Ac 18:22 it is the chosen company of the Twelve who are in view. In 1Co 9:1 Paul is meeting his Judaizing opponents on their own ground, and answering their insistence upon personal intercourse with Jesus by a claim to have seen the Lord. But apart from these passages there is no evidence that the apostles of the early church were necessarily men who had known Jesus in the flesh or had been witnesses of His resurrection–much less that this was the primary qualification on which their apostleship was made to rest.

5. The Apostleship:

We are led then to the conclusion that the true differentia of the New Testament apostleship lay in the missionary calling implied in the name, and that all whose lives were devoted to this vocation, and who could prove by the issues of their labors that God’s Spirit was working through them for the conversion of Jew or Gentile, were regarded and described as apostles. The apostolate was not a limited circle of officials holding a well-defined position of authority in the church, but a large class of men who discharged one–and that the highest–of the functions of the prophetic ministry (1Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11). It was on the foundation of the apostles and prophets that the Christian church was built, with Jesus Christ Himself as the chief corner-stone (Eph 2:20). The distinction between the two classes was that while the prophet was God’s spokesman to the believing church (1Cor 14:4; 1Cor 14:22; 1Cor 14:25; 1Cor 14:30; 1Cor 14:31), the apostle was His envoy to the unbelieving world (Gal 2:7; Gal 2:9).

The call of the apostle to his task might come in a variety of ways. The Twelve were called personally by Jesus to an apostolic task at the commencement of His earthly ministry (Mt 10:1 ff parallel), and after His resurrection this call was repeated, made permanent, and given a universal scope (Matt 28:19; Matt 28:20; Acts 1:8). Matthias was called first by the voice of the general body of the brethren and thereafter by the decision of the lot (Acts 1:15; Acts 1:23; Acts 1:26). Paul’s call came to him in a heavenly vision (Ac 26:17-19); and though this call was subsequently ratified by the church at Antioch, which sent him forth at the bidding of the Holy Ghost (Ac 13:1 ff), he firmly maintained that he was an apostle not from men neither through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead (Ga 1:1). Barnabas was sent forth (exapostello is the verb used) by the church at Jerusalem (Ac 11:22) and later, along with Paul, by the church at Antioch (Ac 13:1); and soon after this we find the two men described as apostles (Ac 14:4). It was the mission on which they were sent that explains the title. And when this particular mission was completed and they returned to Antioch to rehearse before the assembled church “all things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles” (Ac 14:27), they thereby justified their claim to be the apostles not only of the church, but of the Holy Spirit.

The authority of the apostolate was of a spiritual, ethical and personal kind. It was not official, and in the nature of the case could not be transmitted to others. Paul claimed for himself complete independence of the opinion of the whole body of the earlier apostles (Gal 2:6; Gal 2:11), and in seeking to influence his own converts endeavored by manifestation of the truth to commend himself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God (2Co 4:2). There is no sign that the apostles collectively exercised a separate and autocratic authority. When the question of the observance of the Mosaic ritual by GentileChristians arose at Antioch and was referred to Jerusalem, it was “the apostles and elders” who met to discuss it (Acts 15:2; Acts 15:6; Acts 15:22), and the letter returned to Antioch was written in the name of “the apostles and the elders, brethren” (Ac 15:23).

In founding a church Paul naturally appointed the first local officials (Ac 14:23), but he does not seem to have interfered with the ordinary administration of affairs in the churches he had planted. In those cases in which he was appealed to or was compelled by some grave scandal to interpose, he rested an authoritative command on some express word of the Lord (1Co 7:10), and when he had no such word to rest on, was careful to distinguish his own judgment and counsel from a Divine commandment (1Cor 12:25; 1Cor 12:30). His appeals in the latter case are grounded upon fundamental principles of morality common to heathen and Christian alike (1Co 5:1), or are addressed to the spiritual judgment (1Co 10:15), or are reinforced by the weight of a personal influence gained by unselfish service and by the fact that he was the spiritual father of his converts as having begotten them in Christ Jesus through the gospel (1Co 4:15 f). It may be added here that the expressly missionary character of the apostleship seems to debar James, the Lord’s brother, from any claim to the title. James was a prophet and teacher, but not an apostle. As the head of the church at Jerusalem, he exercised a ministry of a purely local nature. The passages on which it has been sought to establish his right to be included in the apostolate do not furnish any satisfactory evidence. In 1Co 15:7 James is contrasted with “all the apostles” rather than included in their number (compare 1Co 9:5). And in Ga 1:19 the meaning may quite well be that with the exception of Peter, none of the apostles was seen by Paul in Jerusalem, but only James the Lord’s brother (compare the Revised Version, margin).

LITERATURE.

Lightfoot, Galatians, 92-101; Hort, Christian Ecclesia, Lect II; Weizsacker, The Apostolic Age, II, 291-99; Lindsay, The Church and the Ministry, 73-90.

J. C. Lambert

[ISBE]


Apostle’s Names

SPECIAL TOPIC: CHART OF APOSTLES’ NAMES
Mat. 10:2-4
Mar. 3:16-19
Luk. 6:14-16
Act. 1:12-18
1st Group
Simon (Peter)
Andrew (Peter’s brother)
James (son of Zebedee)
John (James’ brother)
Simon (Peter)
James (son of Zebedee)
John (James’ brother)
Andrew
Simon (Peter)
Andrew (Peter’s brother)
James
John
Peter
John
James
Andrew
2nd Group
Philip
Bartholomew
Thomas
Matthew (tax gatherer)
Philip
Bartholomew
Matthew
Thomas
Philip
Bartholomew
Matthew
Thomas
Philip
Thomas
Bartholomew
Matthew
3rd Group
James (son of Alphaeus)
Thaddaeus
Simon (the Cananean)
Judas (Iscariot)
James (son of Alphaeus)
Thaddaeus
Simon (the Cananean)
Judas (Iscariot)
James (son of Alphaeus)
Simon (the zealot)
Judas (son of James)
Judas (Iscariot)
James (son of Alphaeus)
Simon (the zealot)
Judas (son of James)

Copyright © 2011 Bible Lessons International

[Utley – NT Topics]

Aaron’s Rod

Aaron’s Rod.

Aaron’s rod symbolizes the power of God specifically in the confrontation with a rebellious Israel. What it is is an immediate show of God’s power before the eyes of the people of Israel. From a dead stick, God can cause life to bud forth instantaneously. This is a truth of God seen throughout Scripture.

God did this publically in the early days of the nation of Israel in order to confirm the divine appointment on his chosen men. First of all, it was for them, and cannot be expected that God would always do the same thing, especially in our day. Secondly, it immediately became a symbol of God’s promises to Israel, and it was kept in the ark of the covenant to that end, to remind Israel of God’s faithfulness, and implicitly, Isreal’s unfaithfulness.

-DCox


 

Aaron’s Rod. (Num 17:1-13 and Heb 9:4): Immediately after the incidents connected with the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram against the leadership of Moses and the priestly primacy of Aaron (Nu 16), it became necessary to indicate and emphasize the Divine appointment of Aaron. Therefore, at the command of Yahweh, Moses directs that twelve almond rods, one for each tribe with the prince’s name engraved thereon, be placed within the Tent of the Testimony. When Moses entered the tent the following day, he found that Aaron’s rod had budded, blossomed and borne fruit, “the three stages of vegetable life being thus simultaneously visible.” When the miraculous sign was seen by the people, they accepted it as final; nor was there ever again any question of Aaron’s priestly right. The rod was kept “before the testimony” in the sanctuary ever after as a token of the Divine will (Num 17:10). The writer of Hebrews, probably following a later Jewish tradition, mentions the rod as kept in the Holy of Holies within the ark (Heb 9:4; compare 1Ki 8:9). See PRIEST, III.

[ISBE]

Abstinents

ABSTINENTS.

A set of heretics that appeared in France and Spain about the end of the third century. They are supposed to have borrowed part of their opinions from the Gnostics and Manichaeans, because they opposed marriage, condemned the use of flesh meat, and placed the Holy Ghost in the class of created beings.

[Buck]


  1. One who abstains; a faster. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
  2. (usually capitalized, religion, historical) One of a sect who appeared in France and Spain in the 3rd century, and believed in abstinence towards meat and sex.

[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abstinent#English]


These nouns refer to the habitual refusal to indulge a desire, especially a sensual one. Abstinence implies the willfulavoidance of pleasures, especially of food and drink, thought to be harmful or self-indulgent: “I vainly reminded him ofhis protracted abstinence from food” (Emily Brontë).
Self-denial suggests resisting one’s own desires for the achievement of a higher goal: “For too many people, the resultof sedentary living is a perennial, losing battle against the bulge: bursts of self-denial interspersed with guilt when self-denial inevitably leads to self-indulgence” (Jane Brody).
Temperance refers to moderation and self-restraint and sobriety to gravity in bearing, manner, or treatment; bothnouns denote moderation in or abstinence from consuming alcohol: Teetotalers preach temperance for everyone. “[T]hose moments which would come between the subsidence of actual sobriety and the commencement ofintoxication” (Anthony Trollope).
Continence specifically refers to abstaining from sexual activity: The nun took a vow of continence.

[http://www.thefreedictionary.com/abstinent]


 

Those who supported reform sought a return to the ideals of the early years of the Order and focused especially on its original vegetarianism. The Rule of St. Benedict, the fundamental document of the Cistercian Order, permits meat only to the sick, but by the 16th and 17th centuries the prohibition was rarely observed. The reformers – the “Abstinents” – regarded this meat eating as a symbol of all decadence, utterly rejected it, and (with papal approval) formed themselves into a congregation known as the Congregation of St. Bernard of the Strict Observance. However, they were not unopposed, and those who disagreed with them saw meat eating simply as an accommodation to changing times and regarded the Strict Observance as a collection of deluded enthusiasts.

The schism was so acrimonious that Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667) was called to intervene, and in 1664 he invited representatives of both parties to Rome to put their cases to a commission of cardinals. Two years later Alexander promulgated the bull In suprema> which recognized two Cistercian observances, common and strict, the main difference between them being that the former would eat meat three times a week (except during Lent and Advent) and the latter would not.

Meanwhile, Ranee, who had been in Rome in 1664 defending the Abstinents, had established his own rule at La Trappe: a rule more severe than that either of the early Cistercians or of the Abstinents. His monks were forbidden not only meat but also fish, eggs, cheese, and butter. The austerity of the house – the seclusion, the silence, the fasts, the intensity of the opus Dei, and the hard manual labor – became a matter of such wide renown that Strict Observance” and “Trappist” came to be used (incorrectly) as synonyms.

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