The Strand Study Bible

LUKE LUKE NOTE – If the religious people of the world teach us anything, it is that it is entirely possible to have a very good and accurate sets of beliefs ( these ought ye to have done ) but not be connected to the heart of God in love. 11:49 From the beginning God in His wisdom has sent the world apostles (Abraham – Gen 12:1-3), prophets (Abel – Lk 11:50- 51; Enoch – Jude 14-15; Noah – II Pet 2:5; Abraham – Gen 20:7; Isaac and Jacob – Psa 105:6-15, etc.), evangelists (Abel – Heb 11:4, Noah – II Pet 2:5) and teaching pastors (Jeremiah – Jere 1:5) in order that the world may learn about Him and His salvation. Sadly, the world, along with the Jewish nation here, has rejected His gifts ( Eph 4:12 ). 11:50 Jesus told the Jews of His day ( this generation ) that their crime of rejecting Him was worse than all of the killings of all the prophets fromAbel to Zechariah. Whereas the previous generations killed the messengers, Jesus’ generation would kill Him –the MESSAGE (the WORD – Jn 1:1,14). 11:51 Jesus fixed the limits on the extent of the “canonical” books of the Old Testament at the 39 books we have today when He accused the religious crowd of his day of being guilty of killing all the prophets God had sent from Abel ( Genesis – the first book in the order of the books in the Hebrew Bible) to Zecharias ( II Chronicles – the last book in the order of the books in the Hebrew Bible). Meaning: The Bible Jesus considered Scripture didn’t include the “ extra-biblical books ” (the Apocrypha , the Pseudepigrapha , and the Apocryphal Gospels –all of which were written by unknown sources after the completion of II Chronicles) that the world attempts to add to the Scriptures today. Joy Davidman, wife of C.S. Lewis, in Smoke on the Mountain notes: NOTE – Like many of the other extra-biblical books of the OT (the book of the Wars of the Lord – Num 21:14, the book of Jasher – Josh 10:13 and II Sam 1:18 , the book of the annals of Solomon – I Ki 11:41, the book of Nathan the prophet – I Chro 29:29, the book of Gad the seer – I Chro 29:29, the book of Shemeaiah the prophet – II Chro 12:15, the story of the prophet Iddo – II Chro 12:15 & 13:22, the book of Jehu – II Chro 20:34, the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia – Esther 10:2, and the epistle to the Laodiceans – Colo 4:16) the Apocrypha , the Pseudepigrapha , and the Apocryphal Gospels became books of “information,” not inspiration. The Apocrypha (13-19 books) (written between 260 BC – AD 100) 1. Tobit (c. 200 BC) Found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1952 in Cave IV and within in the Septuagint, the book of Tobit is considered an extra- biblical book . Because it was written 225 years after the close of the Old Testament, the book of Tobit did not make it into the Jewish canon ( Genesis – Malachi ). It is, however, part of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox biblical canon. It was pronounced canonical by the Council of Hippo in AD 393, the Council of Carthage in AD 397, the Council of Florence in AD 1442, and confirmed for Roman Catholics by the Council of Trent in AD 1546. Question is: Why isn’t Tobit found in any of our modern versions today? The answer is fourfold: 1. Jesus didn’t include it in what He called Scripture (Lk 11:51) 2. It was never included in the Hebrew canon 3. It was a deliberate fabrication, published by an unknown author 4. It didn’t line up with Scripture The book of Tobit teaches “ salvation by works ” and “praying for the dead” ( Tobit 12:12 ). NOTE – Concerning the doctrine of salvation, salvation is and always has been by grace, not works ( I Pet 1:10a , b , Gen 49:18 , Exo 14:13,30-31 , Psa 74:12 , Jonah 2:9 , Hab 1:5 , Lk 7:50 , Jn 4:14 & 5:29 & 6:28-29 , Rom 13:11 , Titus 3:5a and Heb 6:1c ). About the book: The book of Tobit tells the story of a righteous Jew from the tribe of Naphtali named Tobit who lived in Nineveh after the deportation of the northern ten tribes of Israel by Assyria in 721 BC. One night, as he slept in the open, he was blinded by bird droppings. This of course put a strain on his marriage, and ultimately, he prayed for death. A world away over in Media a young woman named Sarah had been praying for death as well, for she had lost her seventh husband to the demon of lust named Asmodeus, who killed every man she married on their wedding night. The rest of the story is all about God sending an angel in human form named Raphael to heal Tobit and to free Sarah from the demon. Here’s how the story goes: Blind Tobit sends his son Tobias to collect a sum of money that he had hidden in Media. Before he leaves, however, Raphael shows up and presents himself as Tobit’s kinsman named Azaiah, and offers to aid Tobias protection and direction to Media. Along the way, while washing his feet in the Tigris River, a fish attacks Tobias and tries to swallow him. With the help of Raphael the fish is captured and its heart, liver and gall bladder are removed to make medicines. Upon arrival in Media, Raphael tells Tobias about Sarah and instructs him to marry her. The night of the marriage Tobias burns the liver and heart of the fish and the smell drives the demon away. After the marriage Tobias and Sarah find the money with the help of Raphael and they all return to Nineveh. Once there, Raphael tells Tobias to take the fish’s gall bladder to cure his father’s blindness. Raphael then reveals his true identity and disappears to heaven. Tobit then sings a hymn. 2. Sirach (or, Ecclesiasticus ; the Wisdom of Sirach – c. 170 BC) 1650 One of the first tasks of the Early Church was to separate the true Gospels from the multitudinous invented “eyewitness” accounts in which the faithful lied their heads off for the supposed good of the Church. Fabulous miracles ascribed to the boy Jesus – and more suitable to an infant devil; romantic adventures of Paul with the holy virgin Thecla; forged donations of Constantine, false Isidorian decretals, profound treatises on metaphysics attributed to a Dionysius the Areopagite who never wrote them but was sainted for them – the list is endless. 1