Category: Bible Reading

  • Carpenter or Tekton? Seeing the World of Jesus More Clearly

    A carpenter’s workbench in an open-air stone workshop with a rough limestone block, chisels, a wooden mallet and wood shavings, with olive trees and sunlit hills beyond.

    Recently, I wrote about the need to read Scripture for ourselves and dig deeply. We have tools at our ready disposal, the envy of any seminary in history. We have the Bible in an almost overwhelming variety of translations.

    We have commentaries ranging from near the time of Christ to the latest in academic thought. We have study tools to help us understand the original language, and if we prefer, we have the Scriptures in their original forms. Maps, charts and works of history, archaeology and science aid our study. There are concordances and Bible dictionaries available for our use. We have photos and videos of the places of the Bible to help us envision them.

    The deeper we dig, the more we learn and appreciate the wondrous Word God has given us. The more we can understand Him. As we seek answers to our questions, we find we may not have all the answers, but we certainly get better questions. If nothing else, we put together a fuller, more accurate picture.

    Allow me a small example. We all know that Jesus was a carpenter.

    Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Mark 6:3 ESV

    Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? Matthew 13:55 ESV

    The word translated “carpenter” is the Greek “tekton.” It means craftsman or builder. Jesus likely worked with wood, but since stone is more common in that part of the world, he also probably worked with stone as well.

    The fact that Jesus was likely more than simply a carpenter doesn’t change who He was or what He did on our behalf, but it does change our image of what He did and the world He lived and worked in. 

    There is nothing wrong with being a carpenter; it was and remains a much-needed trade today. Knowing He was a tekton – a builder, a craftsman – just gives us a clearer picture. Either way, he was a skilled craftsman who worked with His hands. He knew the cost and value of a hard day’s work. He was human in every way.

    In the end, that minor difference in wording may change nothing, but it helps me see the world of the One I love more clearly, and that’s a blessing.

    Read the Word. Take advantage of the plethora of tools to help you dig deeper. Get to know Him more clearly.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    Digging into one small word, tekton, gave me a clearer picture of the world Jesus lived and worked in. Read the Word, dig deeper, and get to know Him more clearly.

    TAKEAWAY

    We have more tools for studying the Bible than ever before, including translations, commentaries, maps and concordances. We should use them.

    The deeper we dig, the more we learn. We may not get all the answers, but we get better questions and a fuller picture.

    Jesus was a tekton, a craftsman or builder who likely worked with stone as well as wood. That doesn’t change who He was, but it gives us a clearer picture of His world.

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  • Daniel and the Lions – how old was Daniel?

    Sometimes the Sunday school version doesn’t match the text

    Daniel and the lions - A man in a dark robe sits cross-legged on the stone floor of a cave, his back to the viewer, surrounded by resting lions as beams of sunlight stream down from an opening above.

    I was reading in Daniel last week when I read something about Daniel and the lions. It’s funny how the things we learn and assimilate at an early age tend to stick with us throughout our lives. That’s true for Sunday School Bible teaching. Unfortunately, what we’re taught is often a sanitized, condensed or even erroneous version. It’s not done maliciously, but it happens.

    Let me give some examples. Noah is pictured with pairs of animals in almost every Sunday school illustration – the Bible says seven pairs of clean animals and pairs of unclean. The three magi who show up to see the infant Christ – we all know the image. The problem is that we don’t know how many magi there were, and they didn’t arrive until he was a child; the word suggests he was already weaned. Mary riding a donkey to Bethlehem – great image, possible even, but the Bible doesn’t say.

    Now let’s look at Daniel and the lions.

    Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”  And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.  Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”  Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. Daniel 6:16-24 ESV

    Daniel was saved, and the king glorified God. It’s a marvelous account of God’s protection and judgment.

    How old was Daniel? From childhood illustrations, I always pictured him as a young man.

    Daniel was likely in his 80s, as nearly 70 years of captivity had passed. He came as a teen and was sent to the lions’ den after Persia had conquered Babylon. We usually see him illustrated as a young man.

    Believers need to make a habit of reading the Word for themselves. It’s important that we know the true stories and not rely on someone else’s telling or a childhood drawing.

    Read the Word. Read the Word. Read the Word.

    Kevin

    #ReadTheBible #BibleStudy #SundaySchool #Scripture #Lions

    SUMMARY

    Daniel was likely in his 80s when he faced the lions, not the young man our Sunday school pictures show. Make a habit of reading the Word for yourself so you know the true account and not someone else’s telling.

    TAKEAWAY

    What we learn as children sticks, and the Sunday school version is often sanitized, condensed or wrong.

    Daniel was likely in his 80s when he was cast into the den, not the young man of the illustrations.

    Make a habit of reading the Word for yourself rather than relying on someone else’s telling.

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