Shar

Angels have many duties throughout the Bible. The greatest good news they delivered was to the Shepherds when Christ was born. Luke 2:8-14. The Lord uses his angels, servants, and man for His purposes, as He determines. While we do not see them normally preaching the gospel, we do see, in God's one final effort to warn man in Revelation 14:6, an angel flying midair with the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth. So, there is your examples that they have delivered the gospel. In short, God uses His angels and his Heavenly hosts as He sees fit.

My reply above was to his claim that "all you have to do is give thanks and any creature is good for food. I countered his argument with the above response. Of course, these frogs are inedible. My point. You simply cannot say all creatures are good and not to be refused for food, simply because you give thanks. If your argument is "God is reckoning back to when he gave food in the beginning," then He would only be talking about food with seed. Adam and Eve, were vegetarians. Not anything from the ground was permissible for food in the Garden. God says to man in Ge.1:29 - "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food". They were totally vegan, as were all the animals and birds, too.

The scripture you quoted has nothing to do with Jewish Midrash, but rather what will happen in the end times. During this time, people will turn away from the truth and seek teachers to tell them what they want to hear. They will turn away from scripture. In Titus, a group was teaching error for dishonest gain. We see plenty of that on TV today. In Peter, he is assuring others they have not followed cleverly invented stories, like some who create stories for a following, but that he was an eyewitness to the majesty of Christ. Remember, they are talking about the only scripture that existed, the OT. The letters to various churches mostly addressed problems in the churches and did not substitute for all of God's word. We must look to the whole of Scripture to get solid teaching and understanding. If you look only to the NT to authenticate you will miss a lot. See the OT Scriptures can exist without the NT. Jesus said, "Search the Scriptures, for they tell of Me". He was speaking of the OT. However, the NT could not exist without the OT. A large amount of that which is written in the NT has a OT reference. You referenced fables. We know fables are stories that are made up with a purpose to teach a moral or spiritual lesson. Do you know that parables are the same thing? Yet, Jesus and the many rabbis before Him taught with parables. Parables were not new when Jesus began to teach. Parables were a common way to teach. Even some of the parables Jesus taught were actually taught earlier. Jesus just further expounded on them. A Midrash is the equivalent of our commentaries. Just like we sometimes will seek out a commentary to give us some greater insight to our reading, so did the Jews. The Midrash would expound on a certain Biblical text, clarify or expound on a point of law, or develop some illustration to a moral principal or character. To indicate that these verses can be taken for more of an anti-Jewish stance toward Jewish teachings is not fair nor accurate.

Actually not attacking, but responding to you stating "nothing from the NT." Besides Revelation, there were numerous references to the prophets. These men who hold the prophecies of the coming kingdom. You asked me where I got this information, as if it was something new and I responded it as mostly detailed in the OT. I did not mean for you to take offense, and for that, I deeply apologize. I guess the way you stated "nothing from the NT" made me believe that the OT did not count. When you asked where I got this information, it seemed logical to me that you have not been studying the OT. Sorry, if there was any miscommunication.

I said Revelation. I see now where you are coming from. You have divorced yourself from the OT or have valued it less than the NT. This is something to be concerned about. Why? Because always and whenever Jesus, the disciples, and Paul ever talked about Scripture or referenced it, they were only speaking about the OLD TESTAMENT. The NT did not exist. Manuscripts were not found until in the 3rd century AD and the Council of Nicea did not convene until the 4th century AD. The whole of the church studied, read and relied on the Scriptures of the OT. Get to know them! God's promises and his plan for the future are greatly detailed here.

From Revelation, Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, which all speak of our Lord's coming physical reign here on Earth, the Future Kingdom on Earth, His restoration of Israel, the Priests and the worship, The Glory of God returning to the Temple, and the division of the Land of Israel and its boundaries re-established. Start with these books in the OT and read them carefully.

I am speaking of when He fulfills His promise to Israel and sets up His Davidic reign at the end times. I am not speaking of His Heavenly kingdom.

I think that quite a few of us must be careful not to accuse our fellow brethren of being deceived. I have seen a number of us state so when someone simply disagrees with another's position. I find that the warnings regarding deception in the Bible are more clearing around believing in another gospel that does not hold out Jesus as the Messiah and that there is another way to be right with God. Also, when we are deceived by sin in our lives and we think everything is just fine, when it is clearly not. However, if one simply interprets points of Scripture different from you, we cannot accuse them of being deceived. We all come from different backgrounds and denominations. What we are trying to achieve is to share our knowledge and to learn from others. As we explore these posts and search out the Scriptures, we may find a different understanding as we gain more insight and knowledge. I have attended many churches in my life. Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Episcopalian, Non-Denominational, and Messianic. I find elements of truth in their doctrines and elements of prejudice, misunderstanding, traditions, or just pure error. These experiences drove me to a complete and pure study of the Scriptures. I have let the Word speak to me, and I have throughout the years, changed my position on a number of matters I previously held. I believe I have grown more mature for it. I don't see Therese deceived. I see that she is clearly my sister in the Lord. We may have disagreements in some points of Scripture, but that is how we discuss and learn. I will not always agree with everyone, but I am commanded to love you with an Agape love.

Therese, I believe that Peter's vision was to get him out of his prejudice for Gentiles and to fully know that Gentiles are accepted. Of course, you know Peter goes to Cornelius house thereafter to share the Gospel. Peter could not continue in this prejudice, as he would have ultimately violated the Great Commission of our Lord; "to the Jew first, the Samaritan (half-Jew), than to the Gentiles." However, we clearly see that Paul was designated the apostle to the Gentiles and Peter, along with the others, to the Jews. In Ga.2:7 - "On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews." Gal. 2:9-10, Paul references the Jerusalem Council which was the decision making group over the Church. Paul states, "James (the Head of the Council), Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they the Jews." In Acts 15, Paul goes before the council regarding the believing of Gentiles and for a ruling on circumcision requirements. The Council agrees that Gentiles do not need to be circumcised. They further see that God is working in the Gentiles to bring them to the faith. They appoint a couple of men from the council with Paul and Barnabas to deliver the letter to the church at Antioch. The leaders (Judas and Silas), returned to Jerusalem and blessed Barnabas and Paul as they set sail on their missionary journey to the Gentiles. So, Peter, while he had some contact with some Gentiles, he was primarily an apostle to the Jews.

I agree, rollinTHUNDER!

Qnts2, I agree they are a kingdom of priests. That is evident in quotes within Revelation. I was just speaking about I Pe. that LittleFlower was quoting and speaking about the context in which he was speaking. I was referencing his address to Jewish Christians that fled Jerusalem and were scattered aboard, at that particular time in history.

Therese, I am not really disputing we are not a priesthood. That is very evident in several verses quoted in Revelation. As far as the churches, those particularly named in Peter's First Epistle were in Asia Minor. The churches you are referencing were not named in the letter. The ones you named here may have not been.

Do a true historical study on when it was written to whom. The early church was primarily Jewish and Peter, specifically in his opening of this letter, addresses those who were scattered abroad throughout Asia Minor. The church in Jerusalem, primarily Jewish, were those who scattered to avoid the serious persecution that was occurring in Jerusalem at the time. AD 62-64, was when I Peter was written.

Peter was writing this around A.D. 62-64, primarily to the Jewish Christians who were driven out of Jerusalem and were scattered throughout Asia Minor. He parallels the speaking of Israel as a holy nation and kingdom of priests as in Ex.19:5 and De.10:5. This does not mean we aren't today, because the church is mostly Gentile, but at this time Peter was speaking primarily to Jews and spoke in terms within the O.T. they knew and understood. Jews were suppose to be a light unto the nations throughout the OT. Here, Peter throughout his epistle calls them to this type of testimony. That is historical, not my interpretation. LOL

Scripture does say that the Jewish people were to be a nation of priests. And we know by the beliefs of the 'Judaizers' that they expected that the Gentiles who believed on Jesus should convert to Judaism. I do not believe that Gentiles who believe on Jesus need to be circumcised, becoming Jewish, in order to be fully accepted by God with an equal standing before God. The Levitical priesthood were intercessors between the children of Israel and God. The New Covenant priesthood is also to be intercessors but not in the same capacity as the Levitical priests. The New Covenant priesthood is to pray (intercede) and share the gospel, which means hoping to lead non-believers to Jesus, in which case, the new believers themselves become priests. There is no one who is to stand between believers and the Father other then Jesus in the New Covenant. Among believers, we have a diversity of cultures and ethnicities, with no one culture or ethnicity being the only right culture. If a believer chooses to worship and fellowship among believers of another culture/ethnicity, the believer should not attempt to change the culture of the ethnic group. If a believer goes to another culture to share the gospel, they need to be culturally aware so as not to insult, drive away, or force the others to live like the believers culture. Do Gentiles need to live like a Jew? No. Do Jewish believers need to live like Gentiles? Again, no. I have been on a Native American reservation, and in Canada, a First Nations reservation, with fellow believers and attended their services. The worship music made use of Native American drums, and some was sung in the Native American languages of that tribe (Iroquoian for the Mohawks , Algonquin for the Cree, and Mi'kmaq for the Micmac). It was enjoyable as we were all believers, worshipping Jesus. I have been to conferences with people from many different countries, and it was amazing to realize that all of these people, are one in the Lord. I remember at one such conference, a couple behind me wanted to pray for me. They did not speak English so prayed in their language. Believer to believer. I prayed for them in English. Qnts, regarding the Israelites, Ex.19:5-6 Says, "....you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.