Thursday, June 23 ~ Miriam

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Song of Solomon 4-5; Acts 7:1-21

Good day!

I don't have a whole late to say about the Song of Solomon passage today.  Two things came to me, as follows:

** Today's passage talked in some detail about the physical attributes each person appreciated about the other.  I don't think there is anything wrong with appreciating one another's appearance, particularly between people who are married.  Physical appearance should never be at the top of the list of reasons for being with or marrying someone, but let's face it - it's often one of the first things that draws us to someone.  On the other hand, I have found that the better you get to know someone and the more you like him or her and enjoy their company, the more attractive they appear to you.  I believe that is part of God's design.

**  "This is my lover, this is my friend," is at the end of today's reading.  I don't know if any of you experienced sex prior to marriage.  If not, that's great.  As someone who has, let me tell you that if there isn't anything else between you and the other person, the physical pleasure is still there, but there is an emptiness to it, especially afterwards.  Many people make the mistake of assuming that physical intimacy will lead to or even take the place of real intimacy with another person.  This is absolutely false!  It is fleeting and momentary and always leads to a deeper feeling of emptiness, requiring further efforts to fill it.  One of the main reasons why sex is to be reserved for marriage - where love, appreciation, and friendship with each other is already there.  Only then is it fulfilling.

Our Acts reading today was basically a recitation of Jewish history.  I did a post on Acts 6-8 last year and referenced a study by Bob Deffinbaugh called The Stoning of Stephen.  I learned a lot from that, and some of it will only be applicable as we read "the rest of the story" (Paul Harvey, anyone?), but just to help you understand why Stephen felt it necessary to give the Sanhedrin a history lesson, here is an excerpt:

Basically, there were false witnesses brought in to testify to two primary charges: Stephen was speaking against “the holy place,” and he was advocating an alteration of the customs handed down by Moses.

Stephen’s sermon is his inspired response to these two primary charges pertaining to Jerusalem and the temple as the “holy place” and to the customs of Moses. As Stephen led his accusers on their trek through the history of Israel, he was seeking to demonstrate two fundamental concepts: (1) The history of Israel bears out the fact that much of the life of the Jews was spent outside of the land; and, (2) that for all their smug self-righteousness, Israel had always shown themselves to be rebels against Moses and against the Law which was given through him. 


They (the Jews of Stephen's day) knew that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem and would reign as King from His holy temple. They thought that Israel, Jerusalem, and the temple were all necessities for the kingdom to come. No wonder these Hellenistic Jews were willing to give up all that they possessed to reach the “holy place.” How blasphemous it must have seemed to them to hear Jesus (first), the apostles, and now Stephen speaking of the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem. They understood this as a rejection of the kingdom. With the dashing of Jerusalem, all of their messianic hopes were dashed as well.

The problem, however, was that their understanding of the kingdom, and of how it was to be established on earth, was wrong. Indeed, in the context of this quotation of Isaiah 66:1-2, several important truths are revealed. First, God would bring judgment upon Jerusalem and the temple. Second, that God would bring salvation to the Gentiles. Third, when God came to the earth to establish His kingdom, He would create a new Jerusalem and a new temple. Israel’s man-made temple would be destroyed along with the city of Jerusalem. God would create His own Jerusalem and His own temple, which He would bring down from heaven. The destruction of Jerusalem and the demolition of the temple was not a rejection of the kingdom, or a hindrance, but a prerequisite to it. This was a necessary step, clear the ground as it were, so that God’s temple could be brought to the earth. God is not a remodeler. He will destroy the old earth and the old heavens so that the new heavens and earth may come.


Have a great Thursday!

 Tomorrow's passage:  Song of Solomon 6-8; Acts 7:22-43