Post by Cindy on Aug 9, 2016 10:21:03 GMT -5
I've been trying to think of a way to get you guys to be the teacher. I want to do this because we learn a whole lot more when we try to teach another person. Plus, of course, there's always times when we need to explain something in the bible to another person anyway, and I want to help you each to have enough confidence to know that whatever question someone asks you, that you can find the answer for them, even if you don't know it immediately. I have a couple of ideas of how to do this, but to start with, I thought I'd simply ask you guys questions and have you explain the answers to me. For this first question, I'm going to cheat for you and give you the scriptures that you'd need to read in order to find the answer. However, I'm not giving you all the scriptures and if you don't read them in context, it won't help. So there's still some work for you to do too.
The first question is about a story that begins in Acts 8:26. The story is about a eunuch coming to faith in Christ. He'd been to Jerusalem to worship God and was studying Isaiah on his way home. But in Deuteronomy 23:1 we're told that no eunuch's can enter the Assembly of God, meaning they can't participate in worship services. Only Jew's and their proselytes were allowed in the temple courts to worship. Gentiles who were interested in God and lived righteous life's were called "God fearers" and if they converted to Judaism, they were then proselytes and allowed to worship in the court of the Gentiles. But a eunuch couldn't go into the temple at all. Also, you should know that in Gen. 39:1, Potiphar is called a eunuch and yet he is married. The words translated, "officer" is the word for "eunuch" in the original language. I'm giving you this clue but even without the original language, you might have discovered this by simply looking through many different versions of the text in Genesis 39:1.
Besides the story starting in Acts 8:26, eunuchs are spoken of in Deuteronomy 23:1, Leviticus 21:16–23, by Jesus in Matthew 19:12 and by Isaiah in Isaiah 56:3–5, among other places.
I have several questions for you.
If eunuch's were not allowed to worship at the temple, why did this eunuch go over 200 miles to worship in Jerusalem for Pentecost when he wouldn't be allowed in the temple? When Philip explained the verses from Isaiah to him, did the eunuch become saved? Can eunuch's be saved?
Why didn't God allow eunuch's to take part in the worship at the temple?
Will God ever change this law? If God does change it, when would He do this? Why would God change it?
The first question is about a story that begins in Acts 8:26. The story is about a eunuch coming to faith in Christ. He'd been to Jerusalem to worship God and was studying Isaiah on his way home. But in Deuteronomy 23:1 we're told that no eunuch's can enter the Assembly of God, meaning they can't participate in worship services. Only Jew's and their proselytes were allowed in the temple courts to worship. Gentiles who were interested in God and lived righteous life's were called "God fearers" and if they converted to Judaism, they were then proselytes and allowed to worship in the court of the Gentiles. But a eunuch couldn't go into the temple at all. Also, you should know that in Gen. 39:1, Potiphar is called a eunuch and yet he is married. The words translated, "officer" is the word for "eunuch" in the original language. I'm giving you this clue but even without the original language, you might have discovered this by simply looking through many different versions of the text in Genesis 39:1.
Besides the story starting in Acts 8:26, eunuchs are spoken of in Deuteronomy 23:1, Leviticus 21:16–23, by Jesus in Matthew 19:12 and by Isaiah in Isaiah 56:3–5, among other places.
I have several questions for you.
If eunuch's were not allowed to worship at the temple, why did this eunuch go over 200 miles to worship in Jerusalem for Pentecost when he wouldn't be allowed in the temple? When Philip explained the verses from Isaiah to him, did the eunuch become saved? Can eunuch's be saved?
Why didn't God allow eunuch's to take part in the worship at the temple?
Will God ever change this law? If God does change it, when would He do this? Why would God change it?
!!
