SAYINGS NOT IN BIBLE "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

SAYINGS NOT IN BIBLE "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you The biblical parallel to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is found in the following verse: Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them (Matthew 7:12; cf. Luke 6:31). The phrase, "love thy neighbor as thyself," also bears a close relation to the saying and is found throughout Scripture (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 5:43; 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8; Luke 10:27). James even refers to "love thy neighbor as thyself" as being "the royal law" because it is the embodiment of all the laws dealing with human relationships.

While many will happily point out that the New International Version translates the Lucan passage as "Do to others as you would have them do to you"—which is nearly identical to the standard, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. However, as close as this phrasing is, we cannot point to the NIV for the phrase's origin. The NIV was first published in 1973, well after the phrase came to popularity. Further, as the NIV is founded on a translation framework known as dynamic equivalancy (in which passages are translated in a so-called thought-for-thought manner rather than by a more literal guideline), it seems apparent that they translated the passage in order to reflect the well-known phrase.

Further research indicates that the phrase's earliest known origin comes from a Roman Catholic catechism from 1583 (which reprints an earlier of the same from 1567). The particulars of the phrase may in fact date further back even than this, as the idea of an ethic of reciprocity has been common throughout the world even into ancient histories (we find evidence even in the ancient Greeks).

So, in the end, while the saying does not appear in its common form in any of the more literal translations of Scripture, its sentiment is certainly biblical.

SAYINGS NOT IN BIBLE "This too shall Pass"

SAYINGS NOT IN BIBLE "This too shall Pass"

This too shall pass Trials and difficult circumstances are difficult to bear and one comfort that many have come to share with friends assailed by trouble is the saying: "This too shall pass." The possible origins of this are too many and varied to review in depth here.

"This too shall pass" (Hebrew: גם זה יעבור‎, gam zeh yaavor) is a phrase occurring in a Jewish wisdom folktale involving King Solomon. The phrase is commonly engraved on silver rings.

Many versions of the folktale have been recorded by the Israel Folklore Archive at the University of Haifa. Heda Jason recorded this version told by David Franko from Turkey:

One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it." "If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?" "It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility. Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day's wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah. He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone's surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words "Gam zeh ya'avor" -- "This too shall pass." At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.

The phrase "This too shall pass" and the associated ring story were made popular by Abraham Lincoln in his 'Address Before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin' on September 30, 1859:

It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence, to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: "And this, too, shall pass away." How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!

An adequate question for the believer to ask though is how biblical is the comfort found in the reminder that "This too shall pass." Really we should be focusing on the promise of what awaits us who believe. Romans 5 reminds the believer that suffering produces hope for the kingdom of God; if we simply take heart in the temporary end of a given earthly trial, we are finding comfort in the wrong thing.

One of my favorite Bible Professors in Seminary on test day would come in after he handed out the test he would say, "This too shall pass but we will see if you will"

 

SAYINGS NOT IN THE BIBLE The Eyes is the Window to the Soul

SAYINGS NOT IN THE BIBLE The Eyes is the Window to the Soul

I often get questions by people asking me to locate various sayings in the Bible which do not exist. Many sayings have developed throughout the years by a variety of means. Scripture supports the purposes of some of the sayings while contradicting others.


The eye is the window to the soul
The Bible does not speak of the eye being a window to the soul, yet it does represent the eye as being a lamp of the body.

Matthew 6:22
The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.

Luke 11:34
The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.

Happy New Year thoughts

Deuteronomy 11:11-12 (New American Standard Bible)

11"But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven,12 land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year.

Today, dear friends, we stand upon the verge of the unknown. There lies before us the new year and we are going forth to possess it. Who can tell what we shall find? What new experiences, what changes shall come, what new needs shall arise? But here is the cheering, comforting, gladdening message from our heavenly Father, "The Lord thy God careth for it." "His eyes are upon it away to the ending of the year."
All our supply is to come from the Lord. Here are springs that shall never dry; here are fountains and streams that shall never be cut off. Here, anxious one, is the gracious pledge of die heavenly Father. If He be the source of our mer¬cies they can never fail us. No heat, no drought can parch that river, "the streams whereof make glad the city of God."
The land is a land of hills and valleys. It is not all smooth nor all downhill. If life were all one dead level of dull sameness it would oppress us; we want the hills and the valleys. The hills collect the rain for a hundred fruitful valleys. Ah, so it is with us! It is the hill difficulty that drives us to the throne of grace and brings down the shower of blessing; the hills, the bleak hills of life that we wonder at and perhaps grumble at, bring down the showers. How many have perished in the wilderness, buried under its golden sands, who would have lived and thriven in the hill country; how many would have been killed by the frost, blighted with winds, swept desolate of tree and fruit but for the hill—stern, hard, rugged, so steep to climb. God's hills are a gracious protection for His people against their foes!
We cannot tell what loss and sorrow and trial are doing. Trust only. The Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today. It shall be a good, a blessed new year!
He leads us on by paths we did not know; Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow, Though oft we faint and falter on the way, Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day;
Yet when the clouds are gone, We know He leads us on.
He leads us on through all the unquiet years; Past all our dreamland hopes, and doubts and fears, He guides our steps, through all the tangled maze Of losses, sorrows, and o'er clouded days;
We know His will is done;
And still He leads us on.
N. L. Zinzendorf
Streams in The Dessert

Wise men

The Three Wisemen During the advent season it is quite common to hear people tell the story of the three wise men, who, following the Star of Bethlehem, traveled from Babylonia on camels to present gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant Jesus. This story, however, has just as much mythology as biblical truth.

The Gospel of Matthew is the only place in Scripture that refers to these magi. The text is as follows:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

"'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.

Matthew 2:1-12, 16 esv

First of all, Scripture does not designate the number of magi. Traditionally there were only three because that is the number of gifts—gold and frankincense and myrrh—presented to the Christ Child. Really there could have been any number of magi visiting Christ.

A famous hymn often sung during the advent season is "We Three Kings" by John Henry Hopkins, Jr. (1857). The first stanza goes as follows:

We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

Though this well-cherished song refers to the three "kings" there is no evidence which supports that these magi were in fact kings. These magi were wise men who were probably experts in astrology and oneirocriticism (interpretation of dreams), such as the wise men described in Daniel 2. Of twenty translations surveyed, thirteen referred to the magi as "wise men" (asv, cev, Douay-Rheims, esv, hcsb, kjv, ncv, net, njb, nkjv, nlt, nrsv, and rsv), five called them "magi" or "mages" (Darby, nasb, niv, tniv, and ylt), J.B. Phillips names them "astrologers," and the Message, "a band of scholars."

Another possible misnomer is that the wise men were present at the birth of Christ (or shortly thereafter), presenting gifts to the Christ Child in the manger. The evangelist Luke tells us that shepherds visited the Christ Child in the manger (Luk 2:8-20), but there is no mention of the magi at this point. In fact it seems that the magi could have arrived sometime later according to Matthew's account. Matthew 2:11 states that they entered a house (Gk. oikia) which is distinct from a manger (Gk. phatnê). Matthew 2:16 makes reference to Herod confiscating life from all the male children in and around Bethlehem "according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men." Therefore the magi may have arrived circa two years after Christ's birth, despite the traditional timing of twelve days later (January 6th is date that the magi arrived, however, this is working from the false premise that Christ was born on December 25th).

Some accounts of the "three" wise men are accompanied with their names: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. The earliest reference to these names is from Excerpta Latina Barbari, which is a Latin translation of an early sixth century Greek manuscript. The names seem to be purely tradition as they do not have an early witness.

Something else to consider is the origin of the wise men. Some have attributed it to Babylonia or simply Persia based on the term magi, yet Matthew leaves it ambiguous by stating that they came "from the east."

As a note of interest, Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, records several portents or omens that foretold the war with Rome and the destruction of the Temple in a.d. 70.

Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year. (Josephus, War 289)

This event would have occurred in a.d. 66, and it is possible that Josephus merely included this incident from the prior account of the star at Christ's birth in order to strengthen his pro-Roman argument.

When all is said and done, the only impeccable information which we can obtain regarding the magi is the very words of Scripture.

Forgivness (Part 3) How Do you Sustain a Forgivng Spirit

　

 Forgivness Part 3 How DO You Sustain a Forgiving Spirit?

 In the Olympics, a boxer doesn’t simply step into the ring and register a knockout with the first punch. Most often, it takes many rounds of exchanging many blows before a winner is announced. For the most part, forgiveness is not a onetime event.28 We may need to go through many bouts of forgiving as a part of the process of forgiveness. But if we confront our hurts and face our wounds, it will be worth the emotional bruises we will likely encounter. As we consistently release each recurring thought of an offense, eventually the thoughts will stay away. The process will be complete. The fight will be won. Jesus emphasized the "again and again" nature of forgiveness when He said ... "If he [your brother] sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him." (Luke 17:4)

Forgviness (Part 2) How to Forgive

How to Forgive .(part 2).. again

How can you forgive someone who has hurt you? You may think it’s impossible — but with God’s help you can. The key is first to accept God’s forgiveness, by receiving the free gift of salvation He offers you in Jesus Christ. We don’t deserve God’s forgiveness, but on the cross all of our sins were placed in Christ, and He took the judgment we deserve. Have you turned to Him for the forgiveness you need?

Then "forgive others the same way Christ has forgiven you — freely and fully. Not only will God release you from an unforgiving spirit, but He even may use you to change the life of the person you’ve forgiven."

F—Forbid recurring thoughts of the wrongs done to enter your mind. Stop them as soon as they occur. Boldly say to yourself, “I refuse to keep a record of this. I refuse to keep a ledger.”
“[Love] keeps no record of wrongs.”
(1 Corinthians 13:5)

O—Overcome the temptation to bring up the matter again. After an honest confrontation with the offender and both sides of the situation have been dealt with—or if the other person refuses to talk about the problem—let the Holy Spirit do His work of conviction. Ecclesiastes 3:7 says, “[There is] a time to be silent and a time to speak.” Pray this passage:
“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (Psalm 141:3)

R—Repeat Scripture in your mind. Allow God’s perspective to change your perspective. Allow God’s heart to permeate your heart. At times of testing, repeat over and over, “Love covers this wrong. Lord, may I be an expression of Your love. May I reflect Your love that covers over all wrongs.”
“Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.” (Proverbs 10:12)

G—Give the situation to God. Jesus understands how much you have been wronged. When He was being persecuted, Jesus knew that the heavenly Father would judge justly . . . in His way, in His time. And you can know the same. Your trial will make you either bitter or better. Say to the Lord, “I put my heart into Your hands. I entrust myself to You. I know You will judge this
situation justly.” These words were said about Jesus:
“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23)

I—Intercede on behalf of your offender. God does not present prayer as an option for you; it is a command. When you have been wronged, pray, “Lord, give me eyes to see him through Your eyes. May I care for her with Your care.”
“Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.” (1 Samuel 12:23)

V—Value what you can give rather than what you can receive. Pray for God to help you understand the offender’s past and how his or her inner pain has contributed to the injury you are now experiencing. Focus on how you might meet some of these inner needs, for it is more blessed to give than to receive.
“The Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)

E—Extend God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Forgiveness is a direct expression of both God’s grace and God's mercy. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve (pardon). Mercy is not getting what you do deserve (punishment). Pray often, “Lord, may my life be an expression of Your grace and an extension of Your mercy.”
“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
(James 5:11)

Sources
Rodney A. Fry, Rose Publishing, http://billygraham.org/answer/with-gods-help-you-can-forgive-those-whove-hurt-you/