321 - Les Feldick Bible Study Lesson 3 - Part 1 - Book 27 - Israel in the Wilderness

https://lesfeldickbiblestudy.com Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 3 * PART 1 * BOOK 27 ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS Then we have this whole period from Abraham until Christ comes in His earthly ministry where God is dealing mainly with the nation of Israel. So Ezra rebuilds the Temple, and a little remnant of Jews come back from Babylon, and begin to set the stage for the nation of Israel at the coming of Christ. Then a few years after Ezra had rebuilt the Temple, another Syrian king, by the name of Artaxerxes, gave commandment to Nehemiah to go back to Jerusalem, and rebuild the city wall, because you know a city wouldn't last long without the protection of a wall. Then we know from Daniel Chapter 9:24 that there would be 490 years of God's time table prophetically upon and fulfilled in the nation of Israel. Now we know that Israel rejected the Christ. Peter and the eleven continued to preach to the men of Israel in the Book of Acts. I feel that from the time that Paul started ministering to the Gentiles with The Gospel of Grace, as found in I Corinthians 15:1-4, we have this undetermined period of time, we don't know how long it will last, we only know that the Church Age has now come 1900 + years. Because the Churches have been established, and now they need doctrine, they need correction, they need instruction, and so the Holy Spirit is behind it all, and He begins to prompt the Apostle Paul to write these various letters. And in this letter of I Corinthians we find Paul dealing with the problems in this local Church. I Corinthians 7:1a Now getting back to our timeline, I want you to understand that we're in the Church Age, The Body of Christ, waiting until the Body is complete. Now let's start with verse 19, and here Paul makes some kind of hard to comprehend statements. I Corinthians 9:19 Now you see Paul had only driving desire and motivation, and what was that? To see lost people saved. He didn't care about material things, or comfort; all he wanted was lost people saved. Now reading verse 20. And this wasn't always easy for Paul. I Corinthians 9:20 "And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, (remember back in the Book of Acts when he has been decrying Law, and legalism, and Temple worship, yet what does the man do? Paul had to approach the Jews that were not steeped in their religion and also approach those who were under the Law, and were practicing it. Remember how I made comment a few weeks ago that when we speak of the Law of Judaism at the time of Christ and of Paul, it wasn't the pure Law of Moses's day. This thing had been so watered down with man-made ideas that the Law of Paul in Christ's days was a whole set of over 600 rules and regulations. That was the Law that the Jews really attained to - the laws that the Rabbis had put together studying the various aspects of the Old Testament. So Paul says but to those who are under the Law, I became under the Law. Now, he says, in verse 21. I Corinthians 9:21 "To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without Law to God, but under the Law to Christ.)Now verse 22: I Corinthians 9:22 So Paul says whenever he came to people who were spiritually weak, he understood their weakness. Now verse 23. I Corinthians 9:23 All Paul had on his heart, was to see lost people saved. I Corinthians 9:24 "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." To win! You run your spiritual race that you may obtain. Not Salvation. He's been referring to the carnal Corinthians all the way since Chapter 1 as believers, as brethren. So he's not talking about running to gain their Salvation, but to gain rewards. I Corinthians 9:25a "And every man that striveth for the mastery..." Now he's talking about the Olympic contestants, and when they trained in order to win the race, did they go clear over board and just eat, eat, eat, because it took energy to run? Looking at verse 25 again, we find Paul saying that these runners train temperately in all of their intake of food and drink to enhance their body strength. I Corinthians 9:25 Paul says that we are running the spiritual race not for a crown of leaves and vines as these runners did, but we run for an incorruptible crown. I Corinthians 9:26 "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly;..." Because Paul knew what the prize was as he teaches us in the Book of Philippines. Philippians 3:10 Now finishing verse 26: I Corinthians 9:26 Paul says that he's not going to just beat the air, he's not going to shadow box, but rather he is going to train himself spiritually to run this race of life that he might win the prize. Let's finish the chapter with verse 27. I Corinthians 9:27 #LesFeldick #BibleStudy #Bible