Lessons #281 and 282
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Defense of Paul’s right of support and marriage (1 Cor 9:4-14)
... 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? 8 Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
The message of the first half of the ninth chapter of 1 Corinthians that we have been considering is that ministers of the gospel of Christ have the right of support from believers. We have been considering the defense of Apostle Paul of his right to support from the Corinthians and so generally the right of ministers of God’s word to be supported by believers in Christ. In our last study, we began considering the second assertion of Apostle Paul in defense of his right to support by the Corinthians which is that people get rewarded from their services. He supported this concept that people get rewarded from activities related to their services in two ways: from human activities and from the Scripture. His support from human activities he presented in form of three rhetorical questions in verse 7 that we presented as three positive statements. First, that soldiers receive support for their activity or work. Second, those who plant fruit trees eat the fruit from the trees that result from their work. Third, those who raise animals benefit from them. The second way the apostle supported the concept that people are rewarded by their services is from the Scripture. We demonstrated that the use of the word “scripture” is due to the word Law in verse 8. We started to consider the apostle’s justification of his assertion by his quotation from the Scripture in verse 9, specifically the quotation Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. We indicated that the apostle quoted from Deuteronomy 25:4:
Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.
We stated that it is with this quotation that we will begin our study today. So, it is with this passage that we begin our study today.
Our concern is with the interpretation of Deuteronomy 25:4 in its context. To do this, we will consider two words used in the passage. The word “muzzle” is translated from a Hebrew verb (ḥāsǎm) that appears only twice in the OT Scripture with related meanings. The word may mean “to be a roadblock,” or “to stop” as it is used in God’s declaration of blocking the ways of travelers because of punishment He would exact on Gog, as we read in Ezekiel 39:11:
“‘On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog.
The second meaning is “to muzzle,” that is, to place a block over the mouth of an animal, to prevent it from using its mouth. It is in this sense that the word is used in Deuteronomy 25:4. By the way, the Hebrew verb is related to a Hebrew noun (mǎḥsôm) that refers to a device placed on the mouth of an animal to prevent use of the mouth hence means “muzzle.” However, the word appears only once in the OT Scripture where it is used figuratively for the psalmist’s determination to be silent before the wicked despite his sufferings, as we read in Psalm 39:1:
I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth
as long as the wicked are in my presence.”
The example of the Psalmist is one that is worthy of emulation by us. He indicated that he would watch what he says so that he would not sin against God even in the midst of his suffering. His resolve is similar to what is said about Job not sinning through what he said because of his suffering as evident in what he said to the wife as recorded in Job 2:10:
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
This aside, the psalmist indicates he would put a muzzle over his mouth, which is a figurative way of saying that he would be silent about his complaint to God for his suffering, especially before the wicked or the unbeliever. He did not want the wicked to use what he says about God as an occasion to mock him and doubt the goodness of God. I am saying we should emulate the psalmist in what we say before unbelievers so that what we say would not be used by them to impugn the character of our God. Anyway, let us return to our consideration of Deuteronomy 25:4 since that is our concern. The muzzle, as we have alluded, was an object placed over the mouth of an ox to prevent it from eating the grain as it was treading on it.
The word “treading” in Deuteronomy 25:4 is translated from a Hebrew word (dűš) that may mean “to tear” as the word is used in Gideon’s threatened punishment on the people of Succoth after the Lord gives him victory over Israel’s enemy for their failure to provide support to his troop, as we read in Judges 8:7:
Then Gideon replied, “Just for that, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.”
The word may mean “to trample” as it is used in the Lord’s destruction of Moab as we read in Isaiah 25:10:
The hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain; but Moab will be trampled under him as straw is trampled down in the manure.
These meanings notwithstanding, the predominant meaning of the Hebrew word is “to tread, thresh” that describes the process of separating seeds from their plants. The usual practice of treading or threshing employs a threshing board that is a heavy wooden platform, which sometimes has metal pieces or stones attached underneath it. A farm animal, such as an ox, would pull it across cut stalks of grain that are laid out on the ground resulting in separating the grain seeds from their stalks. It is not difficult to imagine that the ox would be inclined to eat the grain that results from the processing of threshing. To prevent this, the farmer would put a lip covering or muzzle on the mouth of the animal. But the instruction we have in Deuteronomy is that a farmer should not do such a thing.
Our concern, as we have stated, is with the interpretation of the prohibition of putting a muzzle over the mouth of an ox that is used in threshing of grain in Deuteronomy 25:4. Rabbinic commentators understand the prohibition to mean that animals were not to be deprived of sustenance while they were working. Most modern commentators agree that the law affords another example of the humanity which is characteristic of Deuteronomy and which is to be exercised even towards animals. It is this second interpretation that we subscribe because of the preceding context. The preceding context of our passage is concerned with being humane in punishing an offender, as we read in Deuteronomy 25:1–3:
1 When men have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty. 2 If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and have him flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime deserves, 3 but he must not give him more than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother will be degraded in your eyes.
The humane treatment required here concerns flogging a person. The concept of flogging is implied also in the prohibition of not putting a muzzle over the mouth of an animal involved in threshing of grain. This is because another way of preventing an animal from eating the grain while it is treading is to keep whipping the animal so it would be on the move. However, the prohibition against putting a muzzle on such an animal is an expression of God’s concern for animals as His creation. Thus, the prohibition is primarily an act that displays God’s concern for mercy and righteousness, that is, doing what is right or proper. Of course, it is also possible that the prohibition is a way to solidify the instruction against inhumane treatment of a guilty person. The argument being that if animals should be treated with such kindness and concern that it makes sense for those who punish offenders to ensure that they render justice with mercy. Anyway, the prohibition against putting a muzzle on an ox while treading grain is indeed a reflection of God’s care for fairness and doing what is right. It is this understanding that helps us to comprehend a reason Apostle Paul cited this passage as the scriptural basis for his defense of his right to support from the Corinthians and so that of the right of those in preaching and teaching ministry to be supported by believers.
Based on the interpretation we have given; we can assert that the apostle in quoting from the passage we have considered wants to convey the truth that God is concerned for His creation both human and animals. His concern for them reflects His mercy and sense of fairness. In effect, we assert that the apostle intended to convey that God is concerned for His creation as well as for His righteousness or fairness. This assertion is derived from the last rhetorical question of 1 Corinthians 9:9 Is it about oxen that God is concerned? This question that is associated with the apostle’s quotation from Deuteronomy has been interpreted in different ways by commentators, such as literally, figuratively, or allegorically, but we will not focus on these approaches they have used in its interpretation. We will try to deal with another problem that we believe helps in interpreting the question as it relates to the apostle’s use of the quotation of Deuteronomy 25:4.
The problem that is of concern to us is regarding the translation of the Greek sentence into the English because the literal Greek reads not the oxen God is concerned about. Although majority of our English versions introduced a question mark immediately after their translation of the Greek sentence but there is no such mark until end of verse 10. It is because the last Greek expression is linked to verse 10 that the Greek word (mē) translated “not” used in the last Greek sentence of verse 9 is interpreted as a marker of expectation of a negative answer to a question. Thus, many of our English versions translated the rhetorical question implied in the Greek in such a way that one would answer “no” to the question, implying that God was not concerned about oxen which will contradict what we know about God as revealed in the Scripture. This being the case, the Greek should be translated in such a way that the rhetorical question does not yield itself to an answer that would contradict the Scripture. To translate the Greek to convey what Apostle Paul intended to convey, there are three factors we should consider.
A first factor to help in translating the Greek of the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 9:9 is a principle of interpretation that some may not pay attention or that is ignored as they interpret the Scripture. It is the principle that in some contexts, God wants us to read beyond what appears on the surface to lead to a deduction of truth that is implied in a given text. This is not the same as what is known as “allegorical interpretation” that involves searching for a supposed deeper meaning of a text by regarding the literal sense of a given text as a vehicle for portraying more profound spiritual meaning. No, the principle we are advocating is that of deducing from a given text another truth that is still part of literal understanding of a text so that it is not the unbridled speculations of what deeper meaning could be in a text. The principle of interpretation we advocate, in my judgment, is one of the reasons for the gift of teaching. You see, there are those who because they read the English translation where something is not explicitly specified in the Scripture assume that a statement or even what a pastor teaches is incorrect. In effect, such individuals because they do not find the exact wordings, they want in a particular passage, assume the teacher must be wrong. Such individuals fail to recognize that the gift of teaching is intended to help those with the gift to decipher truth of application that is not stated directly but implied in the Scripture. Furthermore, such individuals behave like the Sadducees in the time of Jesus Christ who denied the doctrine of resurrection because in their understanding there is no direct statement in the OT Scriptures that says there would be resurrection as they thought of the subject, but the Lord Jesus corrected them by quoting the OT Scripture as we read in Matthew 22:29–32:
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
The Lord cites what He said to Moses as recorded in Exodus 3:6:
Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
There is nothing in this passage that explicitly refers to resurrection, but the Lord taught that the passage contains a reference to resurrection because of the way God identified Himself to Moses. By His interpretation of what was said to Moses, He implied that it was the responsibility of those who teach what the Lord said to Moses to draw the inference that resurrection is true because the men mentioned were dead and so to refer to them signifies resurrection or living beyond the grave. So, what the Lord conveyed is the principle that those who teach the word of God should under the guidance of the Holy Spirit draw underlying truths to some statements in the Scripture that may have been intended to convey more than what is present on a surface reading. I contend that the Lord wanted to give this principle of interpretation to us so that those who are teachers should depend on the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to truth that a person without the gift of teaching would not perceive regardless of how intelligent that individual is. It seems that if the Lord was not bent on teaching this principle of interpretation that He would probably have cited another passage in the OT from which one could readily draw the conclusion that there is resurrection of the dead. I am referring to Daniel 12:2:
Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
The reason I cited this passage is that the concept contained in it that refers to future resurrection is reference by the Lord Jesus in John 5:28–29:
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
Anyway, the first factor to help in translating the Greek of the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 9:9 is
the principle that in some contexts, God wants us to read beyond what appears on the surface to deduce from it another truth the Holy Spirit also intended to be understood from it.
The second factor to help in translating the Greek of the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 9:9 is that God commends kindness to animals, as we read in Proverbs 12:10:
A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
The third factor is God’s concern for every creature even animals. We are told He provides food for every creature in Psalm 136:25:
and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.
In another passage, God is said to provide for cattle and birds in Psalm 147:9:
He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.
The Lord Jesus during His sermon on the Mount conveyed this same truth of God caring for His lower creation as a way to teach us not to worry about things of this life in Matthew 6:26:
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
The three factors that we have considered should guide us in understanding the appropriate way of translating into the English the last Greek sentence of 1 Corinthians 9:9 that literally reads not the oxen God is concerned about to convey what Apostle Paul intended. Any proper rendering of the Greek sentence must not give the impression that God is not concerned about oxen as one could deduce from the rhetorical question of the NIV and many of our English versions that reads similar to the NIV Is it about oxen that God is concerned? The more adequate translation of the Greek should reflect the sense that the apostle meant to convey that it is not only the oxen that God is concerned but also of man. In effect, the apostle had followed the pattern of the Lord in citing a passage that on the surface reading did not refer to resurrection but on a second look refers to it. On a surface reading of the passage Apostle Paul cited from the OT, that is, Deuteronomy 25:4, there is the implication that the instruction is concerned about oxen only but the Holy Spirit through the apostle says that there is more to that instruction in that it extends to humans. This being the case, I believe that those English versions that inserted the word “only” in their translation are more in line with what the apostle had in mind. The NCV rendered the Greek as When God said this, was he thinking only about oxen? No while the NLT rendered it as Was God thinking only about oxen when he said this?
In any case, we contend that the last question in the NIV of 1 Corinthians 9:9 Is it about oxen that God is concerned? asserts that the apostle intended to convey that God is concerned for His creation as well as for His justice or fairness. By the way, the pronoun this in the NCV refers to the quotation given in the first sentence of verse 9. The word “concern” is translated from a Greek word (melei) that means “it is a care/concern, is of interest to someone” but with several nuances. It may mean “to care” as it is used in a negative way to describe Judas Iscariot who complained about the perfume Mary poured on the feet of the Lord Jesus, as recorded in John 12:6:
He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
The meaning “to concern” in a sentence that has negative connotation may mean “not paying attention” as it is used to describe the attitude of Gallio of not showing any concern when the Jews beat the synagogue ruler, as narrated in Acts 18:17:
Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.
The sentence Gallio showed no concern whatever may, according to the standard Greek English lexicon BDAG, be alternatively translated he paid no attention to this. The word may mean “to be troubled” as it is used to instruct believing slaves not to be concerned about their social status as we read 1 Corinthians 7:21:
Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 9:9, the word has the meaning “to concern” in the sense of being of interest to someone. It is difficult to read the word “concern” as used in our passage in referencing the quotation from Deuteronomy 25:4 without reflecting on God’s care for believers and His concern for justice or fairness. Consequently, we will comment briefly on God’s concern for us and for His justice.
It is our contention that when Apostle Paul quoted the words of Deuteronomy 25:4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain that it reveals God’s concern for His creation and for justice or fairness. We say this because for a person to be fair or just in what the individual does the person must have genuine concern for the other individual that is to be treated justly or fairly. The problem we humans have with the concept of justice or fairness is that we do not think of others as we should. In effect, we are often more interested in what pleases us than to care or be concerned about the welfare of others. Consequently, we find ourselves treat others unfairly. Our God is different in that He cares for all His creation because of His nature. We have already noted that He cares for animals and other lower creatures because He provides them their food. His care also extends to inanimate objects such as land as we may gather from His care of the land of Canaan as reported in Deuteronomy 11:12:
It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.
The word “cares” is translated from a Hebrew word (dārǎš) with the basic meaning of “to seek.” However, in this passage of Deuteronomy 11:12, it is used figuratively in the sense of “to care for/about,” that is, to take actions which nourish and keep safe of an object, with an implication that one cherishes or desires the object. It is used here to convey that the Lord God takes care of the land in that He sends rain on the land and watches it through every season of the year and protects it. That the Lord cares for the land where the Israelites live in the manner we described, is a testimony to His care for inanimate object. It is this concern for land that is the reason God forbade Israel from polluting or defiling the land through bloodshed that is not atoned for by the death of the one who murders another, as we read in Numbers 35:33–34:
33 “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.’”
So, the Lord is concerned about land where people live signaling that He is concerned about inanimate objects in creation. However, His greatest concern is for humans. This concern is evident in the giving of the Ten Commandments, specifically of the keeping of the Sabbath, as recorded in Deuteronomy 5:13–14:
13Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.
This passage indicates concern of the Lord not only for humans but also animals. It is because He is concerned with humans in general that He instituted to Israel the principle of rest. It is possible that some of the aliens or the servants in Israel included in this principle of rest would not have believed in the God of Israel. This being the case, we argue that the command regarding the principle of rest of the Sabbath extends to those who are unbelievers. The implication would be that God is concerned about all humans. This general concern for humans is demonstrated in His response to Jonah when he was angry that God did not destroy Nineveh, as we read in Jonah 4:11:
But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
Although God is concerned for all humans, but we know that His greater concern is for believers or those in covenant relationship with Him. Thus, we read of His care for Israel in the time of the slavery in Egypt as we read, for example, in Exodus 3:7–8:
7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
That the Lord is concerned about Israel is an indication that He cares for those in covenant relationship with Him. His concern was demonstrated in Israel’s deliverance from slavery through Moses as Prophet Hosea stated to be a demonstration of God’s care, as we read in Hosea 12:13:
The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him.
The psalmist severally described God’s concern for those in covenant relationship with Him. Take for example, God’s concern for those in covenant relationship with Him or believers is described in terms of God’s protective care of those who fear Him in Psalm 33:18:
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
The phrase the eyes of the LORD refers to the Lord’s providential care and concern for believers as they are the ones described in the clause on those whose hope is in his unfailing love. In another passage, the psalmist describes God’s concern for those in covenant relationship with Him or believers in terms of the word “righteous” in Psalm 34:15:
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
The use of the body parts “eyes” and “ears” is to convey the same providential care of God that also hears the prayer of those in covenant relationship with Him. Those in covenant relationship with Him are described as righteous not in the sense of being perfect but of being in right standing with Him. A person may be described as righteous if the individual is in right relationship with the Lord not because the person is morally perfect but because the person is a recipient of His grace. This point is demonstrated by the fact that Noah at one point in his life was drunk but that did not change the fact that he was described as a righteous person, as we read in Genesis 6:9:
This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
The point is that a righteous person is one in good standing with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The implication is that all those who are believers are righteous not in the sense of moral perfection but in the sense of being in right standing with God because of the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Believers are members of the new covenant established through the death of the Lord Jesus as the Holy Spirit implies through Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:6:
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Paul’s claim of being a minister of a new covenant means that those who are believers through his ministry are members of the new covenant and so we are correct to assert that believers are members of the new covenant. This notwithstanding, the point is that God is concerned for those in covenant relationship with Him. It is also because the Lord is concerned for those in covenant relationship with Him that believers are reminded that God cares about them as the Holy Spirit puts it through Apostle Peter, according to 1 Peter 5:7:
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Because the Lord cares for you as a believer, you should not live a life of worry since the Lord Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount commanded us against worrying in Matthew 6:25–26:
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
In any case, we have briefly commented on God’s concern for His creation in support of our assertion that when Apostle Paul quoted the words of Deuteronomy 25:4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain that it reveals God’s concern for His creation and for justice or fairness. So, we need to briefly remind us of God’s justice or fairness as it related to His creation. The Scripture is clear that God is fair in all His ways that He could not be objectively charged of partiality in His dealing with humans even when He punishes us, He is always just as Nehemiah confessed in his prayer in Nehemiah 9:33:
In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong.
We are saying that no one can truly charge God of impartiality. Thus, we read in Job 34:19:
who shows no partiality to princes and does not favor the rich over the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?
The psalmist tells us that God loves justice, as we read in Psalm 11:7:
For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.
The psalmist informs us that righteousness and justice are the basis of His sovereign rule over the universe, as we read in Psalm 89:14:
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
Since God’s rule is characterized by justice, He wants human to follow His example and so we are commanded to seek it, as we read, for example, in Isaiah 56:1:
This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
Those who obey this command will certainly be happy on this planet as implied in the commendation of the Lord given in Psalm 106:3:
Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.
The word “blessed” of Psalm 89:15 is a translation of a Hebrew word (ʾǎšrę) that is translated in our English versions either with the meaning “blessed” or “happy” although, as used in formula introduction of blessing, may mean “how blessed” or “blessed is he who.” The UBS handbook states that the word “blessed” is used regularly in the Old Testament to describe a person who is in a good situation and deserves to be congratulated. Furthermore, it states that the Hebrew word does not mean precisely that God blesses, or rewards, such a person; rather it means that such a person is happy, or fortunate, deserving congratulations. The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDOTTE) states that because some modern readers tend to associate the word “happy” with a superficial, circumstance-based joy, while others think of blessed in exclusively spiritual terms, the most accurate rendering of the Hebrew word is probably “truly happy,” although for translation purposes, how happy, or simply happy, may often be preferred. The overwhelming translation of the word in the English versions is “blessed.” For example, out of the 43 occurrences (although 44 in the Hebrew) of the word in the 1984 edition of the NIV, it is translated “blessed” 36 times, “blessings” once, five times as “happy”, and once “blessed is.” The NASB translated the word “blessed” 41 times and “happy” three times. Although the word is most often translated “blessed” but in some passages, it may mean “favored.” It is this meaning that best describes the use of the Hebrew word in Deuteronomy 33:29:
Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places.”
Israel saved by the LORD meaning their deliverance from slavery in Egypt or more generally refers to their being protected and guarded by the Lord during their forty years of wandering in the desert, is certainly an act of God’s favor. Therefore, it makes more sense to understand the word “blessed” to mean “favored” in this particular context. The meaning “favored” is also fitting in Psalm 33:12:
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.
Israel is a nation whose God is the Lord/Yahweh but that happened because of His election of them so the word “blessed” has the sense of being favored. This same sense applies in Psalm 65:4:
Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.
Th clause those you choose and bring near to live in your courts refers either to the priests that live in the Temple area while on duty or it refers to those assembled to worship in the Temple. Either way, such individuals come because they are favored of God. Again, we see that the word “blessed” may mean “favor.” In Psalm 106:3, the meaning is used in the sense of “truly happy.” Hence, it is not surprising that the sentence of Psalm 106:3 Blessed are they who maintain justice is translated Happy are those who act justly in both the NEB and the NJV (New Jewish Version).
We should not doubt that those who maintain justice are happy because when a person maintains justice that person has obeyed God. When we obey God, the result is true happiness as implied in the declaration of the Lord Jesus in Luke 11:28:
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
It is true that majority of our English versions use the word “blessed” in the translation of the Greek word (makarios) used here in Luke that may mean “blessed” or “happy” or “fortunate” but the NEB and the TEV used the meaning “happy” so that the sentence Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it is translated in the TEV as how happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” That aside, the point we are stressing is that if you obey God’s instruction to maintain justice, you will be a happy individual. It is impossible to be happy when a person practices injustice. We can see this even on a national level. A nation where injustice is prevalent is a nation that lacks stability; that is one reason rulers are encouraged to rule with justice as we read in Proverbs 29:4:
By justice a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.
Thus, there is no denying that happiness of an individual or the stability of a nation is related to justice. We can understand this because when justice is practiced then those who practice it are happy people who see no need to mistreat others. It is usually when people are unhappy that they thrive in injustice. Anyway, God desires humans to practice justice. It is not only that He commands us to execute justice, He comes to the defense of those who are denied justice although not always when we think but in His own timing. That He comes to the defense of those denied justice is stated in Proverbs 22:22–23:
22Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, 23for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them.
In any event, we have considered the concept of God’s justice because of the assertion we made that that when Apostle Paul quoted the words of Deuteronomy 25:4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain that it reveals God’s concern for His creation and for justice or fairness. Apostle Paul in quoting from the OT Scripture conveys the sense of justice in his defense of the right of those who minister to others the word of God to be supported by those believers they serve. Fairness demands that those who spend their time doing no other thing than the work of the ministry should be supported by those who benefit from their work. It would be unfair to expect those who spend time in the ministry to help others spiritually to fend for themselves. That is the point of the apostle in quoting from OT and in the question of 1 Corinthians 9:9 Is it about oxen that God is concerned? It is true that as we have indicated, the apostle understood not keeping an animal from eating the grain it threshes is a matter of fairness, but that fairness is extended to those who minister the word of God to others. This truth is confirmed in verse 10 where we begin our study next week if the Lord permits. Meanwhile, let me remind you of the message we are expounding with is that ministers of the gospel of Christ have the right of support from believers.
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