Misunderstood Verses of the New Testament - Week 2
This week we are continuing new blog series called Misunderstood Verses of the New Testament. In this series we will be picking out 2-3 verses every week and then briefly reviewing them listing the problem, solution, a few notes, and teachings we have that go over the verse at least briefly in some way. We are continuing this week with some verses from Matthew 12, 16, and 23.
Matthew 12:1-8
Problem: Verses 1-2: At that time Yeshua went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”
The Oral Law/Traditions says you can’t rub grain between your fingers because it is considered threshing which is work on the Sabbath.
Solution: Verses 3-5: 3 But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? 5 Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent?
Feeding the hungry is greater purpose than rolling oats, when no actual work/profession is being accomplished. – For more on this topic, please see our teaching titled: The Sabbath Day and No Fire on the Sabbath.
Matthew 16:18-19
Problem: 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
There are two things here that are questioned, one is the understanding that Peter is the rock Yahweh builds a new church on; the other relates to binding and loosing and what authority is being given here and what the keys to heaven are.
Solution:
Regarding Verse 18-
Amos 9:11 11 “In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, And wall up its breaches;I will also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in the days of old;
Joel 2:32-3:1 It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive, just as the Lord has promised; the remnant will be those whom the Lord will call. For look! In those days and at that time I will return the exiles to Judah and Jerusalem.
Yeshua is the only rock upon which anything is built, He is the cornerstone, the foundation (The Word). The nation of Israel is the only institution which the prophets mention that God would restore and build back up. There is no mention of any other structure that God would "build" in the "last days" except for the house of Israel.
Regarding Verse 19-
The grammatical construction in the Greek manuscripts is very important to the understanding of the meaning of this instruction. "Shall be having been bound" and "shall be having been loosened". This is very awkward English, but it accurately renders the periphrastic future perfect tense. . It essentially means, "when this judgment is 'bound,' it shall already have been bound in heaven," and "when the judgment is 'to loose' (release), it shall already have been released in heaven." What Messiah was actually saying was, "the judgment which you render shall have already been rendered." Why? Because the Law of Messiah's reign is the Law of Moses. Any loosing or binding must be done in accordance with what has already been decided by God and written in the Law. Thus, when the elders decide to "bind" in accordance to the dictates of the judgments of the Torah, then heaven has indeed already decided the case and has been "bound." For more on these topics, please see our teachings: The Church His Model- FAQ andThe Error of Dispensationalism
Matthew 23:1-4
Problem: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do,
This is understood by some to mean to follow what the Pharisees teach, including their oral law and traditions.
Solution: When sitting in Moses’ seat, the people were only allowed to read from the Torah. So, Yeshua is saying when they are sitting in the seat and reading from the Torah, do what they say. However, the rest of verse 3 says to not do what the Pharisees do, they teach the Torah in Moses’s seat but then do not practice it. For more on this, please see our teaching titled: The Church: His Model FAQ.