Happy Back-to-Work Monday!
Today's reading: Matthew 2:1-12, Acts 2:1-21, Psalm 3, Genesis 5-8
Read it online here.
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Some background info
Matthew
The book of Matthew, as many of us already know, is one of the four Gospels, the first four books in the New Testament (NT), covering the life of Jesus.
The book of Matthew is generally accepted to have been written by Matthew, one of the twelve disciples. Matthew (also called Levi) was a tax collector for the Romans (and so was probably well off.)
Although all of the Gospels are for everyone to read, it's interesting how each of the four Gospels was written from a slightly perceptive. Matthew refers to the Old Testament more than any other NT author. Matthew seems to be writing to mostly Jewish readers to show Jesus is their Messiah.
Acts
Acts shares the story of the expansion of the Gospel and growth of the church, starting from when Jesus was about to leave. Acts was probably written by Luke, who also wrote the Gospel of Luke.
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Genesis 6:4
ReplyDelete"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown."
Who are these people known as the Nephilim? Are they mentioned in the Bible anymore? What was their role or is it just a side note or a historical reference that Jewish people would know of and be able to identify with when they heard this being orally presented? Is it just to help hearers have a time reference?
Hm, I'm not really sure - never heard of them before. According to my commentary, Nephilim also occurs in Numbers 13:33, describing a group of people living in Canaan. Supposedly the Nephilim are gigantic, strong, and mighty.
ReplyDeleteIf read in the context of the passage, seems like they contributed to the growing wickedness and violence of mankind.
sort of weird that they'd be described as:
ReplyDelete"They were the heroes of old, men of renown."
But I guess those words can still be used to describe wicked and violent people.
Also is there significance with the differentiation between sons of God and daughters of men?