Daily Bread – September 11, 2023 (The Second Day – Genesis 1:6-8) Acts 9:1-2 – But Saul, still breathing out threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, approached the high priest desiring from him letters to the synagogues in Damascus that, if he found any man or woman belonging to the Way, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Saul, not the high priest, is the driving force behind the persecution of the Church of the Lord Jesus. In Philippians 3:6, Paul describes this activity as his zeal for the Law of God – which he accounted himself blameless in. Yet, at the same time in 1 Corinthians 15:9, he mentions how he felt he was not worthy to be called an apostle because he persecuted the Church of God. Damascus is first mentioned in Genesis 14:15. It was one of the great cities of Syria located near the foot of Mt. Hermon on the western edge of the Syrian Desert. It was noted for a sizable number of Jewish residents. For Paul to have gotten there form Jerusalem, he would have traveled the “Great North Road” which was an important trade route. The expression ‘he hodus’, or “The Way” refers to the early Christians found here and in Acts 19:9,23, 22:4, 24:14 and 22. The expression “The Way” may be a reflection of Isaiah 40:3, “make ready the way of the Lord.” (Luke 3:4). The “way of the Lord”, was interpreted by the Essenes to mean “the study of the Law”. The expression “The Way” was used by the Essenes to designate a strict observance of the Law. This expression was either brought over by the converted Essenes, or adopted independently as an expression of the Christian community. Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
Daily Bread 9/11/2023
