Thursday, June 11, 2015

Where does one look to hear God's voice?

Subject: Where does one look to hear God's voice? In His Word, to His Spirit, To other believers? A combination of the three? Some have suggested Luke 17:21 can provide an insight.
NIV/KJC "because the kingdom of God is within you"
NASB/ESV For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst."
The translation hinges on the little Greek Word ἐντὸς (entos) that can be translated as "within you" or "in your midst" This word is only used twice in the NT, the other being in Matt 23:26, " "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also." Here there is no question that it is translated "inside" or "within." The context in Luke 17 is even a little blurred as to the immediate audience, is it the Pharisees? or the Pharisees and the Disciples? And of course, how does Luke's Greek audience play into his word choice and what he is trying to say them. There is reason to believe that what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees is part of a larger lesson he is trying to convey to his disciples (see :22,and greater context of Luke, where Jesus uses his outward ministry as a method of teaching his disciples). So I decided to outline all 24 chapters of Luke in order to grasp the over all context to help me wrestle with this one little word ἐντὸς (entos)! I got to chapter 22 today in my study, and found a parallel passage to Luke 17:20-21 in Luke 21 (See below). Two interesting observations, (1) the location of the Kingdom seems to be connected with the coming or presence of Jesus. (2) There seems to be contradiction in the immediate context of Luke 17 and Luke 22 re: whether there are signs to be observed in the coming of the Kingdom.
"Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed (Luke 17:20)"
31 "Even so you, too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. (Luk 21:31)"
 I believe the answer to the above discrepancy of signs indicating the coming kingdom and the difference in translations regarding ἐντὸς (entos) regarding the location of the kingdom, are deeper than "either - or" answers, and that God is trying to say something more profound than I was looking for that will expand our understanding of the depth and riches of his Word! 

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