Eight missing words: A Sunday School Lesson

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A wise and interesting tradition in the synagogues during the time of Jesus was that whenever a man read from a scroll the Word of God, he always stood to show respect for the sacred scrolls and to show that he was reading, not just talking on his own. When a person finished reading the Word and began teaching or discussing, the man sat down. When the minister was standing and reading, the congregation knew that they were hearing the Word of God. This is why Jesus stood to read and sat to preach.

Take your Bible NIV and turn to Luke 4:16-21, and locate, “…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” and, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Compare these Verses with Isaiah 61:1 and 2, “…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God.” Jesus never read the last eight words. Why did he stop in the middle of the phrase? Had Jesus read the words “and the day of vengeance of our God,” and then said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus would have been in error. Jesus could not say those words because the day of vengeance had not yet come. The “day of vengeance” will be fulfilled with the prophecy of Revelation when Christ will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords with all the power of God.

Jesus accurately divided the Word. He was to preach the acceptable year of the Lord—it was fulfilled. In Isaiah 61:2, if a comma had been placed after the expression “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (as it is in The King James), that comma would represent all the years from the day of Pentecost until the time the Lord Jesus Christ will come again. The intervening time is the period of Grace, the Church to which post-Pentecost believers belong, which was still a mystery at the time of the writing of Isaiah and unknown to Jesus.

The time of the Church of Grace is the day of man’s judgment. 1 Corinthians 4:3. The words “by any human court” should have been translated “by any in Man’s Day.” Man does the judging today during the age of Grace for it is man’s day. If it were not so, a man would not be able to curse God, use His name in vain nor live like the devil himself. In the age of Grace, man is free, but there is another judgment coming as Revelation 1:10 indicates, “On the Lord’s Day I was in the spirit….” Biblically speaking, the Lord’s Day is not Sunday or Saturday and has nothing to do with the day of a week. The Lord’s Day is the age in which the Lord does the judging. In that age nobody will nail Him to a cross, nobody will curse Him, nobody will mock Him, for his return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords will usher in the age of vengeance of God spoken of in Isaiah 61. Amen.

Sidney Terhune P. O. Box 6, Washington C.H.

By Sidney Terhune

Religion Columnist

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