Gentiles have glorified God for His mercy

Friday 2021.03.19 Reading from Romans Chapter 15 WNT

Septuagint (LXX Brenton) cross references for the following verses quoted by the Apostle concerning Gentiles' acknowledgement of the mercies of God.

Romans 15:8 - 13 WNT
8 My meaning is that Christ has become a servant to the people of Israel in vindication of God's truthfulness-- in showing how sure are the promises made to our forefathers--
9 and that the Gentiles also have glorified God in acknowledgment of His mercy. So it is written, "For this reason I will praise Thee among the Gentiles, and sing psalms in honour of Thy name."

Psalm 18:49 (17:50 in LXX)
Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing to thy name.

10 And again the Psalmist says, "Be glad, ye Gentiles, in company with His People."

Deuteronomy 32:43 LXX
. . . rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him; . . .

11 And again, "Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and let all the people extol Him."

Psalm 117:1 (116:1 in LXX)
Alleluia. Praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye peoples.

12 And again Isaiah says, "There shall be the Root of Jesse and One who rises up to rule the Gentiles. On Him shall the Gentiles build their hopes."

Isaiah 11:10 LXX
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall arise to rule over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust, . . .

13 May God, the giver of hope, fill you with continual joy and peace because you trust in Him--so that you may have abundant hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The armour of God - in the Apocrypha

Saturday 2021.03.13
Reading from the Apocrypha - Wisdom Chapter 5

The armour of God described in the Apocrypha in Wisdom 5:17 - 20, bears similarities with the armour of God described in the New Testament in Ephesians 6:13 - 17.

Wisdom chapter 5, mentions the following:

• righteousness as a breastplate
• judgment as a helmet
• holiness as a shield
• wrath as a sword.

Similarly, Ephesians chapter 6 mentions:

• the breastplate of righteousness
• helmet of salvation
• shield of faith, and
• the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

Was the Apostle alluding to Wisdom chapter 5 when he wrote his exhortation to the disciples at Ephesus?

Wisdom 5:15 - 20 LXX
15 But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High.
16 Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them.
17 He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies.
18 He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet.
19 He shall take holiness for an invincible shield.
20 His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise.

To you also, the Law died.

Saturday 2021.03.13
Reading from Romans Chapter 7

To you also, the Law died . . .

Most English translations render Romans 7:4 as "you have become dead to the Law", a verse that was illustrated by the analogy of a wife whose husband has died, who is no longer bound to her husband by law, and who is now free to marry another man.

The analogy appears to liken the Christian as the woman who has been set free from the "law of her husband". Verse 4, however, seems rather odd and somewhat incongruous to the analogy when it says "you have become dead" instead of saying "your husband (in this case, the Law of Moses) has become dead".

Today I found a translation, Weymouth New Testament, that removes this incongruity by rendering Romans 7:4 as "to you also the Law died".

So, one may say that, through the Anointed One, our former husband the Law has died, so that we may be married to the Anointed One, the One whom God raised from the dead.

Romans 7:1 - 4 WNT
1 Brethren, do you not know--for I am writing to people acquainted with the Law--that it is during our lifetime that we are subject to the Law?
2 A wife, for instance, whose husband is living is bound to him by the Law; but if her husband dies the law that bound her to him has now no hold over her.
3 This accounts for the fact that if during her husband's life she lives with another man, she will be stigmatized as an adulteress; but that if her husband is dead she is no longer under the old prohibition, and even though she marries again, she is not an adulteress.
4 So, my brethren, *to you also the Law died* through the incarnation of Christ, that you might be wedded to Another, namely to Him who rose from the dead in order that we might yield fruit to God.