What is the Tetragrammaton?

Modern Hebrew for YHWH

The word Tetragrammaton is a pretty big word.  If one would look at it, it looks like it would represent some geometric shape.  It also, seems as though it could be a place within the cartoon, Transformers, but it is neither of these.  Tetragrammaton is "...the Hebrew name for God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 3), consisting of the four consonants Y H V H (or Y H W H) and regarded by Jews as too sacred to be pronounced" (from TheFreeDictionaryOnline.com). The excerpt below goes into more detail on the issue.

"Keep in mind that the Hebrew alphabet did not contain vowels. Ancient Hebrew was a consonantal alphabet. This has led to some debate about the proper pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, with opinions including Jehovah, Yahweh, Yahveh, Yahuweh, and many other variants...the name Yahweh was recorded more than 160 times in the Scriptures preceding Exodus 3:14-15. The name Yahweh should be one of the most frequently occurring words in our English Bibles today. Yet, without exception, all of the most popular Bible versions have removed the memorial name of God from the Scriptures and have replaced it with a titular substitute. In most cases, Yahweh has been replaced with “God,” “Lord,” or “Lord God.” The words Lord and God are NOT names. They are nouns denoting one who is a ruler, and a deity. They are like the word “father.” I am a father, and at times my children may call me “father,” or “dad.” However, neither of these words are my name. They describe my position in the family, but my name is Joseph." (from Joseph Herrin's Parablesblog, "Yahweh's Book - Errors in the Bible").

I've learned this recently and I wanted to share with you too!  Proverbs 27:17 says, "Just as iron sharpens iron, a person sharpens the character of his friend." (CJB)

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In the Beginning, There Was Living Water

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1 Peter 1:20 - He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (NKJV)

Over the past couple of days, I have had the chance to re-read Genesis 1.  As a matter of fact about a couple of months ago, I re-read Genesis 1 and I kept getting stuck on the first few verses.  I did not realize it at the time, but the Holy Spirit was trying to show me something and while I was in the right area, I was not discerning the right message.  However in talking with my wife last night, she made a comment and a light bulb went off immediately!  So, today I would like to share this with you.

As such, I would like to share the first few verses of Genesis 1.

Genesis 1:1-2  (1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (NKJV)

In reading, it is easy to miss things, but I am a believer in the fact that the Word of God can show you something different even when you read the same verses.  So, right now I have highlighted the water.  In the beginning and before God even formed the earth, water existed.  Before anything was ever formed, there was water.  Wait, how is that possible right?  How can water exist without a surface for it to flow through?  Well, I will get to that in a minute.

We see that on the first day, God separated the light from the dark (see Genesis 1:3-5). However, on the second day something interesting happens.  Let's have a closer look:

Genesis 1:6-8 - (6) Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” (7) Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. (8) And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. (NKJV)

Yes, God created Heaven, but where did it come from?  It came from the water!  Out of all my readings of scripture, I have never picked up on this before!  It was pretty cool to see, but then the Word of God goes on with the creation of Earth. 

Genesis 1:9-10 - (9) Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. (10) And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. (NKJV)

The waters under heaven was then "gathered together in one place" (or organized) and THEN, the dry land appeared in the midst of the water.  Then of course God creates the sea life, plant life, wild life, and then humans.

There is no argument that today, that one of the most important elements today is water.  According to the U.S. Geological Survey, "[a]bout 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth's water" (from "How much water is there on, in, and above the Earth?").   Entire cities were built next to sources of water in order to thrive.  We eat food from the water.  We drink water.  Factories need water as a vital part of their operations.  We need it for so many daily things in our lives that we do not realize its significance.  "The amount of water in the human body ranges from 50-75%" (from "How Much of Your Body Is Water?").  Our body tissue contains lots of water and as such we much constantly replenish our ourselves with it.  Human bodies can only go for about "8 to 10 days without water", where by comparison "[y]ou can make it 3 weeks without food" (from "How Long Can a Person Survive Without Water?")!  Lastly, I cannot go without mentioning that Christians use water for Baptisms as well!

I found this to be really interesting and I have been enjoying this revelation.  However, I told you that I would get back to existence of water before even the earth's existence.  If we go to the book of John we see Jesus in a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well.  Jesus was exhausted from his travels, so He asked the woman to draw him some water to drink.  Being a Samaritan, the woman was a little confused because Jews did not associate with them.  So let's pick up at John 4:7.

John 4:7-14  - (7) A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” (8) For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  (9) Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.  (10) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”  (11) The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? (12) Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”  (13) Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, (14) but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”  (NKVJ)

And that folks is how you get there.  Jesus, was there at the foundation of the world.  He is the one who is the provider of living water and I find it amazing that all the life we see sprung out of water in the beginning. Out of Him, we get us.  I opened this blog entry with 1 Peter, but I also find it fitting and proper to close with it as well.  

1 Peter 1:20 - He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (NKJV)

Be Blessed and have a good one folks!

Antoine E. Hall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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Naked You Came. Naked You Shall Return

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A couple of nights ago, the family got to sit down and read Job 1 (sounds like Jobe) and I have to tell you, I learned (and re-learned) some things once again.  It isn't that I do not always learn but rather this was a different take on the same scripture that I have read in the past. I am not going to quote the entire chapter one in its entirety but I do want to set the stage for what is the beginning of many trials for a servant of God.

Job, the Man.

For those who do not know of Job, he "was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1).  He had seven sons and three daughters which by most standards today would constitute as a large family for one home.  "He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 pairs of oxen and 500 female donkeys, as well as a great number of servants; so that he was the wealthiest man in the east." (Job 1:3).  If you continue reading verses 4 and 5, you will see that each of his sons had feasts on their respective days and invited their sisters to come and feast with them.  And, at the end all of this, Job would offer up burnt offerings to the Lord JUST IN CASE his sons might have sinned against God.  This is the type of man, that he was.

The Challenge.

The interesting thing about Job's trials is that they all started out with a conversation between the Lord and Satan.  In verses 6 through 12, we find that the conversation begins with the Lord asking Satan where he had been.  Satan simply responded that he had been roaming the earth here and there.  At this point is where it gets interesting.  Sounding like the father of a proud son, the Lord asked Satan if he had noticed Job whom as we remember "was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1).  As the discussion carries on Satan responds by saying that the Lord had protected Job and provided all the things he had.  If all of those things were taken away, Job would surely curse God (see Job 11).  So, to prove just how upright Job was God laid down the challenge by stating that Satan could touch everything around Job, but he could not touch Job himself.

Now that you have a back drop, in chapter one alone we see that Satan starts to make events happen that surround Job.  We find that he has his oxen stolen and the servants tending to them were killed, but one to relay the message to Job.  We see that fire fell from the sky to consume the sheep and servants and all were killed, but one to relay the message to Job.  Then, the Chaldeans attacked and stole all the camels and killed the servants, but one to relay the message to Job.  Lastly, is what I would consider as what should have been a dagger.  As Job's sons and daughters feasted in the oldest brother's home, a rouge wind came and collapsed the home on top of them, killing them all but who?  Yep, you guessed it.  It killed all but one servant to relay the message back to Job.

All at once, the once great man of the east had is wealth reduced to nothing.  To the average person in modern time, they might would immediately curse God and/or commit suicide however Job was not the average person.  In an act that seems almost impossible in most eyes, Job drew himself closer to the Lord.  Job tore his cloths off, shaved his head and fell down on the ground and worshiped by saying:

"Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21)

Verse 22 ends the chapter with " In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly".  WOW!  I say WOW because that is true Love for the one who first Loved us!  So with that, this is what I took away from Chapter 1.

Be Perfect, Upright, Fear God, & Avoid Evil  - The way that Job became the great man that he was is because of these qualities.  Becoming wealthy isn't in the cards for everyone.  As a matter of fact, owning a lot things is not the plan that God has for you, but we can still be great people of God by keeping the qualities that Job had.  With that being said, God will give you everything you need.

Nothing Happens to You Unless God Allows It - People have a habit of blaming the devil for many things that happen to them.  In a lot of the cases, it is not Satan who causes us problems, but rather what God has allowed to happen.  With Job, Satan had to get permission to cause distress to him, but still it had to be within the parameters that God set.  God will let bad things happen to you to make you grow up, to tear things from your grips that are hindering your spiritual walk, or a host of other things.  In Job's case, the permission came to show how upright Job would be despite his material and emotional loss.

Naked You Came. Naked You Shall Return - Job gave us this lesson and pretty much sums up our lives.  Out of all the things you obtain in this life we cannot take it with us when we die.  When we are born into this world, we had nothing but our naked bodies.  When we die, you may be buried in a suite or dress, but you aren't taking them with you to heaven or hell.  Even when it comes to relatives.  Although we may see them again one day upon Jesus' return, it is alone that we are born and naked that we shall die.

These things are hard to even understand for many of us because our flesh tends to desire the things that we see as opposed to focusing on the things we cannot see.  I hope that this will be a blessing to you as much as it was for me in learning (and re-learning) this application of the Word of God.

Be Blessed folks!

Antoine E. Hall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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The Bride of Christ and the Historical Jewish Marriage Significance

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Often we hear “we are the bride of Christ”. Or “He will come back for a church/bride without spot or blemish.”. But what does that mean?

I would like to look deeper into this with you. But first, we must agree on some basic biblical truths:

• Jesus Christ is the bridegroom of His Ecclesia (church) (2 Corinthians 11:2) 
• The bible is true, without error, and used for correction and instruction (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Jesus told many parables regarding marriage during His time on earth. There are also that are foreshadowed and foretold in the old and new testament, respectively. But just reading them does the importance of the matter no justice. You have to know the historical background of the Jewish customs of marriage to fully understand. And, that is where I’d like to start, and “marry” the two (ha! Pun intended).

This historical Jewish marriage tradition was much more elaborate than how we in our “world” get married today. There were so many things to do, plans to make, payments and arrangements to confirm. But it all served a purpose. Now, let’s look at the steps that it took to get married, and how it correlates to the teachings of the Bridegroom/bride of Christ. For the Jewish tradition, we can look at Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah in the Old Testament in Genesis 24. Point to remember, Abraham’s servant is working on his behalf, as at this time, Abraham was too old to accomplish his responsibilities.

First the Shiddukhin or the match-up (Gen 24:50-51, context v1-51): The marriage was not the idea of the man and woman to be married like how it is now. It was arranged between families, often the fathers. However, sometimes the bridegroom did get to choose if He saw a bride that he liked and sometimes even loved. And marrying outside of your particular “kind” was taboo.

This should ring a couple of bells –  God draws and chooses the bride. Jesus being the bridegroom will only “marry” His “kind”.

Eph 1:4 (NLT) Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

John 6:37 (NLT) However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.

1 Peter 1:13-16 - ¹³So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. ¹⁴So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. ¹⁵But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. ¹⁶ For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”^[c]

Second came the Eyrusin or “Betrothal”. A part of the betrothal was called the Kiddushin, which meant “set apart”. The Kiddushin or Betrothal is kind of like our “engagement” now days but the commitment is MUCH stronger, and much more meaningful. To be betrothed, was a covenant between the bridegroom and the bride to be to be set apart for each other and no one else. This is something that the bridegroom would initiate by leaving his father’s house to go to the bride. He would then ask the bride to be his, and the bride had to choose to accept. In this covenant, the bride (once approached) would agree to belong to the bridegroom, she wouldn’t give her heart to another. That covenant sealed the deal. In a sense, without all the pomp, they were already married. The only way the bridegroom  could get out of the covenant would be to “divorce” out of the covenant (Deut 24:1-4).

One of the major things that went on during the betrothal and before the bridegroom asked for the brides hand of marriage was the “Mohar” negotiation. The young woman was very valuable to her family. She often helped cook, clean etc around the home. To lose her, was a huge blow to the family. In order to make a fair “exchange” she had to be “paid for”. The payment that the young man’s father would make was called the “mohar”. Although the mohar went to the father of the bride, it really belonged to her.

How does this part relate to the bride of Christ? Let’s look at some scripture:

John 6:38-40 ³⁸For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. ³⁹And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

Here we see all three parts of the betrothal. Jesus leaves His home (coming down from Heaven) to come to the brides home (earth). His Father makes the arrangement (His will that none be lost). And the bride chooses to accept (all who believe).  Let’s look at another passage. Also to note, just like it was only the privilege of the bridegroom to break the covenant, so it is with the Father. He is the only one that will be able to break that covenant, but He is not a God of divorce. Thus, the promise of the Bride to His Son forever (eternal life).

Because of our sinful nature, we once belonged to a father. A vicious, brutal, murderous father. And we were VERY important to our father as we opened doors for him to hold on to more and more of his children.

John 8:43-45 ⁴³Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! ⁴⁴For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me!

Romans 1:32 (context v18-32) - They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

The Father would need to pay a ransom to buy us from our father. It would cost a lot to let us go, and that is the price, the “mohar” that the bridegroom had to pay.

1 Peter 1:18-20 ¹⁸For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. ¹⁹It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. ²⁰God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ¹⁹Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Philippians 2:7-8 (KJV) ⁷But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: ⁸And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  ***the “even” is very significant. Jesus just didn’t die. He didn’t get shot or stabbed for us. He died on a cross. That is important because dying on a cross was one of the most dishonorable way to die. Criminals died that way. Yet, the one who had committed no sin paid that price, to buy us back from our father so that we can be one with Him and His Father.****

So, after the betrothal and Mohar was paid, in my research, there were two things that happened.

The bridegroom and bride would both drink wine from the betrothal cup (much like our communion as found in Luke 22:18-20). And they would also exchange things (rings, gifts etc.)

They both would participate in the Mikveh - or Ritual Immersion signifying the spiritual cleansing of them both (much like our baptism into the faith Matt 28:19).

After these were complete, the customary next step would be for the son to leave. But, before he did, he would give his bride-to-be a small gift. This gift would be what she would keep to remind her of the commitment as well as remind her of him and his love for her until he returned. This gift was called the “Mantan”.

Christ’s Bride’s Mantan is this:

John 16:5-8 ⁵“But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. ⁶Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. ⁷But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate[a] won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. ⁸And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.” **The Advocate is another translation in the NLT for The Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13-14 ¹³And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own^[a] by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. ¹⁴The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

During the time that the bridegroom is gone (the separation period), the bride would prepare herself for his return, and he would go to his father’s home and prepare a space for he and his bride to live. In biblical times, the bridegroom didn’t build a brand new home. Instead, he would build new rooms on to the already existing home of his father. After the father was satisfied that the living quarters were complete, the bridegroom was then able to go get his bride.

This also reflects what Christ said:

John 14:1-3 ¹“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. ²There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.^[a] If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?^{[b] 3} When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

Or, the more popular version (KJV): ¹Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ²In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

As far as the bride becoming ready:

Revelations 19:7-8 ⁷Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him.For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. ⁸She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.

Eph 5:25-27 - ²⁵For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her ²⁶to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.^{[a] 27} He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

Once the separation was over, and the father deemed the preparations to be in order for the bride to come. This would begin the “Nissuin” – or the wedding ceremony. The special thing about this in biblical times is that it came after much anticipation. Most separations lasted about a year. The bride knew that her bridegroom would be coming, but not the exact time or day. For this reason, she stayed ready, expecting his return at any moment. Usually, as the bridegroom approached the home of the bride, there would be a loud shout or announcement of his coming. This was done by one of his groomsmen. As he shouted through the streets a great crowd would follow, all shouting. Once he arrived for his bride, they once again drank from the cup, said their vows, and a huge celebratory banquet would ensue.

Matt 24:36-37 ³⁶“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. ^[a] Only the Father knows. ³⁷“When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.

Matt 25:13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return. (in context Matt 25:1-13).

Christ’s Return and wedding:

1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died^[a] will rise from their graves.

Rev 19:7-9 ⁷Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. ⁸She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. ⁹And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”

Amen.

+Deidra Hall
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For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory. Deut 20:4  Translation: We never lose!!

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Overlooked People In the Bible: Sosthenes

Have you ever sat down to read the Bible and you had one purpose in mind, but then another came out of it?  Well that’s what happened to me and how I ended up on this topic.  One evening as I laid in bed, I started to read 1 Corinthians starting at verse one.  As I read it, I ran across a name that I had glossed over before and never paid any attention, but this time the Holy Spirit prompted me to not skip over this name.  This is how I found the man Sosthenes.

First and foremost let’s go to the scripture at where he jumped out of the pages at me:

1 Corinthians 1:1-3:  
(1) This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes. (2) I am writing to God’s church in Corinth,[a] to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus,[b] just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. (3) May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

As you can see, you didn’t have to go far to find Sosthenes name, but I probably read a couple more verses past verse three before I had that “hey, wait a minute” moment.  I didn’t recall this name before and I gone through the entire New Testament. So, why is he popping out now?  For that matter, who is he and is he mentioned anywhere else in the Bible?  To answer these questions, I did a search through the Biblegateway.com and low and behold he is mentioned in the book of Acts (which of course is before Corinthians).  So how did I miss him?

In his introduction in the letter to the Corinthians, Paul identified himself and also Sosthenes.  Not only was he called by name, but he was identified as “our brother”.  With this description, we know that he was a follower of Christ.  This is all that is mentioned from this point onward of Sosthenes, but why is it important to mention him? Would the people at Corinth know who he was?  To answer that question, we’d have to travel back to the book of Acts.

In Acts 18, we find that Paul traveled from Athens to Corinth where he met a Jew named Acquila along with his wife Priscilla.  In these verses, Paul would go to the Jewish synagogues on the Sabbath and preach to them about Jesus Christ.  However, at around Acts 18:6, the Jews were not happy with what Paul was doing.  As such, they “...opposed and insulted him...” and “...Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, ‘Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.’”  Paul ends up staying for over a year in Corinth preaching the gospel, but at some point the Jews had had enough.  They wanted Paul dealt with so they brought him before the new governor of Achaia.

Acts 18:12-17 says, “(12) But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. (13) They accused Paul of “persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law.”  (14) But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallio turned to Paul’s accusers and said, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case involving some wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would have a reason to accept your case. (15) But since it is merely a question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it yourselves. I refuse to judge such matters.” (16) And he threw them out of the courtroom.  (17) The crowd[c] then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom. But Gallio paid no attention.”

At this point in time, this is where we see the other mentioning of Sosthenes.  From verse 17, we find that Sosthenes was the leader of the synagogue.  In order to be the leader of a synagogue meant that he was a Jew!  But wait a minute, didn’t we just establish that later in 1 Corinthians 1-3 that he was also a follower of Christ?  If he was a Jew why would the Jewish people beat up their own leader?  I think it is highly unlikely that they would beat up their own leader without just because a Christian could not have judgement brought upon him by the new governor, Gallio.  Not only did they beat him up, but they “threw him out the courtroom”.  At this point, we have no more mention of Sosthenes until 1 Corinthians 1:1.  We know that he converted at some point but we do not know when.  Or do we? One of the things that made me curious about Sosthenes was why was he mentioned twice without a mention of when he was converted to Christianity.  If it was important to mention his name as a brother in the letter to the church at Corith, then clearly there was more to this man.  

What I am about to go into is a topic that I have discovered in my research.  This topic surrounds the idea that Sosthenes and Crispus is one in the same person.  As I began to read a little more into this it made a lot of sense and it answers some confusion in Acts 18.  I believe in correction, so if you see something completely wrong with this I am open to discussion and reproof,  so where we go.

You may be wondering where the name Crispus comes from. If you read Acts 18, you will notice that I skipped over a few verses (on purpose).  What I wanted to do was circle back to this name as it is important to who Sosthenes was.  Remember, in Acts 18:6, Paul upset the Jews to the point where he was no longer welcomed in the synagogue. Let’s go to Acts 18:7-8.  It says,

“(7) Then he [Paul] left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. (8) Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.”

Verse 8 tells us that Crispus was baptized along with some other Jews in the synagogue.  We know this because Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:14, “I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius” 1.  Paul baptized Crispus, but what does this have to do with Sosthenes?  Let’s look back at verse 8 of Acts 18.  An important thing to easily overlook is that Crispus was “the leader of the synagogue”.  Keep in mind that in Acts 17, when Sosthenes was mentioned, he was identified as “the leader of the synagogue”.  There is only one leader of the Jewish synagogue, so one would have to wonder why aren’t these the same people.  The Jewish people would not beat up one of their own people without cause.  However, if their leader had converted to Christianity, then they would no longer have a reason to be loyal to him and would have every reason to cause harm to him2.  Keep in mind, it did not say that they beat up Crispus, but rather the name Sosthenes was used.

So, we have drawn all of these conclusions but what of Sosthenes?  It would seem that the use of his name in 1 Corinthians is important to mention because he was once a leader but now a brother in Christ.  He was once a leader of a synagogue who probably many of the converted Jewish Corinthians were quite familiar with as they may have attended the same synagogue.  Maybe his name was used a reminder to them at how the church at Corinth got its start versus what it had become.  At the end of the day, I believe there is merit to Sosthenes and Crispus being the same person based on the idea that some converts to Christianity were given new names3.  After all, Paul, was originally Saul, and he began to go by another name. (see Acts 13:1-12).  

Be Blessed,

Antoine E. Hall

1.  BibleStudyTools.com.  Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.  Acts 18
2.  Crispus-Sosthenes
3.  PAUL AND CO-WORKERS.  The Renaming of Benefactors.


P.S. Here are some additional links I read on Crispus and Sosthenes being the same person.
StudyLight.org - http://www.studylight.org/dic/hbd/view.cgi?number=T5972
Sothenes was Crispus - http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/corpus-paul/20110504/003397.html

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