Gilbert House Fellowship

Our study of 2 Corinthians concludes this week as Paul counters criticism from "super-apostles" who had apparently wormed their way into the church at Corinth and turned them away from the gospel with impressive public speaking skills.

Paul critiques and encourages the Corinthians, and in so doing reminds us that judging one another on our physical gifts — not just appearance, but speaking ability, writing skills, or other gifts — may blind us to the workings of the Holy Spirit.

A COMMON thread through the Proverbs is the wisdom of listening to correction or reproof. As hard as it can be to hear that we need to rethink the way we're doing things, true wisdom comes from listening to guidance.

We continue our study of the Proverbs, discussing the benefits of accepting correction, seeking wisdom, and thinking before speaking (or posting, in this Internet age). We also spend some time discussing Proverbs 14:1 and the power of women to build up or destroy their homes.

THE GIFTS of the Spirit and Paul's instructions for their application are just part of this week's study based on Paul's letters to the church at Corinth. We discuss the resurrection of the dead, apologetics based on eyewitness testimony, and the death of the gods as we cover some of the most remarkable chapters in the New Testament.

Here is the link to the podcast Derek mentioned, a discussion between Dr. Michael Heiser and David Burnett on David's academic paper on 1 Corinthians 15:35-50.  They discuss Paul's listing of "celestial" and "earthly" bodies and David explains why these verses are a link to key divine council passages from the Old Testament.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date.

WE CONTINUE our study of the most remarkable books of the Bible, 1 Corinthians. This week, we cover Paul's instructions to the church concerning sexual immorality, lawsuits against fellow believers, the right of those in full-time ministry to earn their living in that calling, marriage and divorce, eating food sacrificed to idols, and taking the Lord's Supper with an unrepentant heart.

We also discuss what Paul meant when he told the Corinthians that "we are to judge angels" (1 Cor. 6:3), and the puzzling verses (1 Corinthians 11:2-16) telling wives to "have a symbol of authority" on their heads, "because of the angels."

This was actually based in the 1st century understanding of human physiology. It was believed by the top physicians and scientists of the day, like Hippocrates (of the Hippocratic Oath), that hair was hollow and exerted suction inside the body to draw reproductive fluid into the shafts. Thus, men with long hair were preventing the fluid leaving the body, and women with short hair prevented the fluid from being drawn up into the body to produce children.

Further, since a woman's hair was considered part of her reproductive system, appearing in church with her head uncovered was considered, well, indecent. And the Mount Hermon incident with the Watchers, the angels who "left their proper dwelling" and took human wives (see Genesis 6:1-4), was clearly in Paul's mind when he wrote these verses.

For a more thorough analysis of the head covering of 1 Corinthians 11:13-15, give a listen to Dr. Michael Heiser's Naked Bible Podcast episode #86.  Here are links to the papers Mike references in his podcast (links open PDF documents):

* "Why Should Women Cover Their Heads Because of the Angels (1 Corinthians 11:10)" by Loren T. Stuckenbruck

* "Paul's Argument from Nature for the Veil in 1 Corinthians 11:13-15: A Testicle Instead of a Head Covering" by Troy W. Martin

WISDOM IS a goddess? There are some who would draw that conclusion after reading Proverbs 8. However, in Hebrew, the word "wisdom" is grammatically feminine although there is nothing physical about the term.

We discuss the idea that Wisdom was a member of Yahweh's divine council, a lesser elohim serving His purposes, although it is just as likely that the author of Proverbs 8 was using personification, a literary device that depicts an idea as a person — e.g., “Sin is crouching at the door” (Gen. 4:7) or, “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15).

SOLOMON'S WISDOM is legendary, and to the extent it is recorded in the Bible, it is also divinely inspired. This week, we begin our study of the Book of Proverbs, which includes this important proverb in the first chapter:

The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date.

PAUL'S SECOND missionary journey takes him through Corinth and Ephesus, where Paul's preaching triggers a riot. Apparently his preaching was drawing people away from the patron goddess of the city, Artemis (the Greek version of the Roman goddess Diana).

We also discuss the first six chapters of 1 Corinthians, a letter prompted by a report that the church Paul planted was dividing between those who supported Paul and those who preferred to follow the Alexandrian Jewish convert, Apollos.

KING SOLOMON and his assumption of the throne in Jerusalem is the focus of our Old Testament study this week. We discuss his request for wisdom and a psalm asking God to bless the new king, and then we read one of the most unusual books of the Bible, the Song of Solomon.

It is full of poetic language depicting the love between Solomon and his bride (which one, we are not told). There are aspects of the book that present a picture of the love between Christ and his bride, the church, although it isn't a perfect picture — some of the euphemisms (which we opted not to discuss in depth) make that association difficult in places.

Still, when you consider that the love of God for His people is beyond our understanding, it is not a stretch to view the Song of Solomon as an attempt to describe the love of God, which is beyond our understanding, in terms we mortals can understand.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date.

WE CONTINUE our study of Paul's Second Missionary Journey. This week, we discuss the run-in with the citizens of Thessalonica and why they were upset by the gospel. We also talk about why the Berea's were more noble than the Thessalonians and Paul's message on Mars Hill in Athens.

Then we turn to Paul's letters to the church at Thessalonica and the prophecies he shares of the Lord's return: Paul's reference to "those of us who are alive" (1 Thess. 4:15) implies that Christ's return is imminent, with no preconditions; the "thief in the night" refers to the coming Day of the Lord, a time of judgment; the Greek word apostasy means, well, apostasy, but possibly also refers to the Rapture; and the "man of lawlessness…, the son of destruction" (2 Thess. 2:3), the Antichrist, will be revealed prior to the Day of the Lord — but maybe also before the harpazo (the Rapture).

THE LONGEST Psalm in the Bible is part of our study this week. The 176 verses of Psalm 119 are divided into 22 stanzas, each of which begins with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Then we look at the first acts of the reign of Solomon: His request for wisdom and the famous Judgment of Solomon, when he ordered the two women arguing over a baby to divide the child with a sword—a ploy to discern which of the women was the child's mother.

Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date.