We are not sure what particular animal is referred to as
Leviathan but the imagery is clear, this is something that cannot be
domesticated or even taken by man. Its
size and strength are such that it cannot be ruled over by mankind even though
we have been given stewardship or rulership over creation. If Job cannot win the battle against
Leviathan, whom Yahweh created, what foolishness to battle against the Lord,
what impertinence. Has Job considered
his folly before challenging the Almighty to debate and to give an account of
Himself to Job? Good luck with that
idea.
What a strange idea to kill Lazarus. We'll kill him whom Jesus has already raised
from the dead and that will stop people believing in Jesus. Jesus has already raised the man once, could
He not do it a second time? None of the
other Gospels mention the raising of Lazarus and one of the theories for that
oversight is that they did not want to attract further attention to Lazarus
after Jesus was ascended in order that the man not suffer persecution and death
at the hands of these same leaders and that, by the time John's Gospel is
written, Lazarus has died. This crowd of
those who had seen the raising of Lazarus and those who believed because of
this sign, greet Jesus as He enters the city for the Passover. The Pharisees know that in order to stop this
movement they will have to step up the game.
The pronouns change here from "they" to
"we." Luke has joined the party
and continues with Paul as he goes to Macedonia. Philippi was a Roman colony and the reason
the apostolic band go outside the gate to the riverside presuming there is a
place of prayer is that there is no synagogue established in the city. Unless there are ten observant Jews in a
place there cannot be a synagogue because God might destroy the city as He did
at Sodom when ten righteous men could not be found there. The women would have been at the river
washing clothes and there gathered for prayer among themselves. Sure enough, Paul finds Lydia there and
shares the Gospel with her and the Lord opens her heart to receive the message
and so she becomes a person of peace in this city. It is unusual that a woman is used in this
way but there are clearly no men in this place the Lord finds faithful.
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