 Okay. Good morning everyone. Welcome to this course, VC 106. Today we have two lecture hours in this course. Let's take a moment to pray and then we will get started. Could I please request somebody just to pray with us? And then we will start. Could somebody pray with us? Sid, would you like to pray? Yes, Pastor. We come to the throne of grace, Lord. Thank you for this day. The new day you have given us, Lord. Lord, as we are going to study about your word, Lord, about how to interrupt your word, Lord. Lord, give us understanding and wisdom so that whatever Pastor Rashi is teaching us, Lord, we can learn it, Lord. We can grab it, Lord. Lord, in Proverbs it is written, fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Lord, give us your freedom. Lord, give us your fear so that we can get that knowledge, Lord. Thank you for this day. Thank you for everyone and thank you for Pastor Rashi's also. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for connecting to the class on interpreting scripture. What we have been doing the last few lectures is looking at difficult topics, difficult passages or teams or passages and trying to put, you know, come to some understanding on how to respond to get a biblical understanding on those teams, topics or passages. And so some of the things we've talked about so far, let me just quickly review some of the things we have seen. We have, we started off in this section by talking about asking the answer to the question, is Jesus God and also trying to understand the incarnation and the titles that we use that are used for Jesus, the Son of God or the only begotten of the Father and the firstborn, the first begotten. So we went through that first. Then we talked about the Trinity. How do we understand the Trinity, the triune God brought to us in scripture. Then we talked about a few, this is what we did last week, a few contradictory gospel accounts, you know, so or some accounts in the gospel that may not seem so clear. How do we understand those things? So we just looked at a few examples. I'm not saying we covered all the examples, but the idea is that if we look into it in detail, you know, we can come to a very logical explanation, you know, and what is happening, either in different in the accounts of the gospel stories or the way the gospel writers present the same matter, we can come to a very logical conclusion. Then we also looked at some difficult statements in the Gospels. We talked about, you know, Jesus telling Pilate that the greatest sin was about the greatest sin. We also talked about forgiving people sins and so on. And so we covered till that. Today we will look at one more theme in the Gospels, which is a little difficult to understand, which is about what Jesus said that he would spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So between his crucifixion and resurrection, there would be three days and three nights. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 40. So how do we understand that is what we want to answer. And then we will go on into some other questions from the New Testament, right? So we are mainly focusing on New Testament passages, and we'll try to see, you know, how best to respond. Now, there are a lot of questions, lots and lots of questions, and especially when we have our mentoring hour on Thursdays, you know, over the years, we've had students ask all kinds of questions. And so it's interesting and definitely, you know, we're not going to be able to handle every question there is. But we will cover some of the common ones and then hopefully it'll give us a framework on how to work through difficult questions and, you know, how to approach answering difficult questions. And then, you know, like all that we've learned in this course on interpreting scripture, how we can apply them as we attempt to answer difficult questions. So now we're going to talk about this whole issue of three days and three nights, which we started just looking at towards the end of the lecture hours last week. So what we have been practicing, and I say people in general around the world, you know, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, does not fit into the biblical statement of the Lord Jesus when he said, you know, he would be in the lower parts of the earth three days, three nights. So how do we explain it. And I, and I think last week, Collins also shared a little bit on on this. So there are two possible explanations, two possible explanations. Now, one has to do with the, the Sabbath and the high Sabbath, the day of preparation. So in the typical Jewish weekly calendar, Sabbath, meaning the day of rest was the seventh day of the last day of the week, which was a Saturday. And so if you go by that the day of preparation would be the day before the Sabbath, which would be a Friday. But what we know from scripture is the word Sabbath is not used only for Saturday, that is the day of rest. But it is also used in connection with other feasts that the Jewish people had basically, Sabbath simply means a day of rest. Right. And so there were other feasts. Now, what we know is that there was the feast of unleavened bread that happened just before the day of Passover. So if you go back to Exodus 12, when the first Passover lamb was killed in the land of Egypt, when God told them to kill the Passover lamb, there was the feast of unleavened bread, seven days of preparation, seven days of unleavened bread before the day of Passover. Now, Jesus was killed on the Passover day just about the same time when the real Passover lamb would be sacrificed. But what we see and John the beloved, the Gospel of John brings us out saying that that particular year that there was the high Sabbath, that means this was not the regular Sabbath day, which was a Saturday, but was a high Sabbath, which was had to do with the feast of the Passover. And it was on the day of preparation that Jesus was killed. Right. So if you look, there are some who put out a chart on this, so I'll just share the chart. If you go by this understanding. Yeah. So now the Jewish day and night. So the day for the Jews started at 6pm in the evening. I'm just saying 6pm, meaning it's sundown, the time the sun goes down. So we'll just say 6pm. And it goes through the next day, the hours of the day, till about 6pm, I mean just before 6pm the next day. So the day and night, so the one day in the Jewish calendar starts with sundown in our typical day and continues through the day hours of the next day. Okay. In our English calendar, we would say it starts in the morning midnight 12am to 12pm. So today is Thursday. Thursday began correctly. Thursday began at 12am. And then it'll end at 12pm midnight. So that's our today, April the 7th day. But in the Jewish calendar, it starts off in the previous evening. That is, when is the evening 6pm and goes on till the end of daylight the next day. So this is the preparation day. So one explanation is a Thursday, a Friday, a Saturday and then the Sunday. So the Passover begins, the preparation day begins and it's still Thursday. And it continues on into the next day and on this preparation day, Jesus is killed. So on this Thursday, Jesus is crucified on the cross and then he's taken down and he's buried on this Thursday. So on this preparation day, Passover begins on this preparation day. Then there is the Friday, there is Saturday, which is the weekly Sabbath. And then Sunday is when Sunday early morning is when he is raised up. So this is one explanation that most people, if you want to get into very technical. So Jesus was crucified on Thursday, the Passover day on Thursday in the afternoon. He was crucified and he was, so the Passover day begins Thursday, sundown and he's crucified early morning. So early morning on Thursday is crucified. So then you have three nights at the Thursday night, end of Thursday or the beginning of Friday, which would be this first night, second night and third night. Actually, this is pretty confusing here. So Thursday is crucified on Thursday. So that's what we would refer to as our Thursday night, Friday and Saturday night. So Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, our Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night and early Sunday morning he is resurrected. So that's one way of looking at it, that it actually happened on Thursday night when he was put to the tomb. And so people present this as one of the explanations. The other explanation is, even if Jesus was crucified. So Friday, Friday officially begins at 6pm Friday. So Jesus was crucified on before 6pm on Friday night. So our Friday, which is our Friday, he was crucified before 6pm. So it's considered part of the previous day. It's considered part of the previous day. So even if Jesus was crucified on our Friday, it takes it will take into account the previous day because in the Jewish calendar, the previous day night cycle had not yet been over, was not yet over. So he was crucified say the previous day around 3pm on the cross, he was taken down from the cross. So it was still a Thursday. Our calendar date is Friday. And then so you, you include the previous day, one day, day one and night one, day two, night two, that is Friday into Saturday and Saturday into Sunday. So that is a second explanation that means he was actually crucified, even if he was crucified on Friday, our Friday, but happened before 6pm Friday. Then it's considered part of the previous day. And so therefore it works out as three days, three nights or considered as three days, three nights. That's a second explanation. So first explanation is he was crucified on a Thursday. Second explanation is he was crucified on a Friday, our Friday. But because it happened before 6pm, it was considered part of the previous day night cycle. So there are both these explanations. And what I know, I can't, you know, I'm not trying to fight or, you know, prove any either of these because we don't know for sure. One explanation is going off by the fact that John says this was the high Sabbath, not a weekly Sabbath. Therefore they say that high Sabbath, you know, means that this was a preparation date to happen on a Thursday. That's one reasoning behind Jesus, them saying Jesus was crucified on a Thursday. The second is, well, it may have happened on a Friday, but it happened before the beginning of their Friday, which means he actually was crucified on Jewish Thursday. So they take that day and night into account. That's fine. So if you ask me, my position is, you know, look, I don't know for sure. So I don't argue. I am open to both these explanations. But what was most important is that Jesus was crucified and that these three days and nights, either way, both these explanations do satisfy these three days and three nights. It just depends on how you want to look at it. If you want to insist on three days, three nights in our calendar, then yeah, the Thursday crucifixion satisfies that. If you insist on three days, three nights in a from a Jewish calendar perspective, then a Friday, our Friday crucifixion can accommodate that as well. So both can be accommodated just depending on how you want to look at it. So personally, you know, I don't argue either for one or the other. I understand both explanations and for me, it's fine. You know, the actual day is okay. If there's variation between the Thursday and Friday, it's okay. What really matters is Jesus was crucified and he rose up again. And that that is what matters. Okay, I hope I explained it sufficiently for you to understand any follow up questions on this or you want me to explain it once again. Is everybody okay? Any follow up questions? Okay. Is there, is there, can you hear background noise coming through? Or I just want to make sure that because there's some construction work happening around me. I just want to make sure that noise is not coming through. Can you hear that? Voice is perfect. Okay, there's no sound background sounds. No background. Okay, fine. Okay. Colin says a little but not distracting. Okay. Can you hear some construction sound coming? Very mild voice, very mild, but it's fine. Okay. Okay. Oh, you can, you can hear it. Let me try to turn it off now. Passive went on mute. Okay. Should be back now. Yes. Sorry. I'm just working on this. Maybe during break time, I'll try to reset my computer. Yeah. Okay. We will pick up a couple other questions. And also what I want, I want to open up is if there are other questions that you feel you would like us to look at, please feel free to ask me so that we could address that question. All those passages. Okay. So now let's just look at a few passages in the New Testament that are somewhat difficult for us or is often used in a way to challenge the, the, the, the ministry area. So we're going to shift now our focus to ministry area and we will look at that. Okay. So if you go with me to first Corinthians chapter 13. And I want to just discuss about, you know, first Corinthians 13 verse nine through 13, first Corinthians 13, nine through 13, how this passage some is used in some cases in the evangelical world to say that the church of the Holy Spirit are no longer needed in the church. Okay. And then how do we respond to that? So if you will follow with me first Corinthians chapter 13, we're going to look at verses nine to 13. Right. First Corinthians 13, nine to 13. The apostle Paul writes here, he says, for we know when part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child understood as a child. I thought as a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things. But now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know when part, but then I shall know, just I also am known and now abide faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love. Now let me put forward the idea that is presented by certain evangelical sections of the Christian church. They use verse nine and verse 10. What does verse nine say? Verse 10 says, we know when part, we prophesy in part. So talking about the gift of prophesy. Then verse 10 says, but when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. So they use verse 10 saying that which is perfect refers to the scriptures. So today we have the scriptures perfectly. Genesis to Revelation. So the scriptures have come. That which is perfect has come. The scriptures have come. So that which is in part, what is in part verse nine prophesy will be done away. So the gifts of the spirit have been done away because the that which is perfect, which is the complete Bible has come. So that is the way they would present their argument. But now I want us to use what we learned, which is scripture must be interpreted in context, right? And then say, is that statement or is that kind of explanation correct? If it is not correct, how do we correctly explain this passage? What is the apostle Paul talking about? Anybody wants to try? So the question is, are spiritual gifts, are gifts of the spirit in the church today? That's the question. And what I'm saying is that there are some people who would use 1 Corinthians 39 and 10 to say that this gift of the spirit are no longer in the church today because we have the perfect scriptures. Okay. So how would you respond to that based on this passage? Anybody just just feel free to say your thoughts, right? We are all learning. So don't worry about if your answer is not perfect or anything. Don't worry about that from this passage. How would you respond to that? Anyone? So my question is, let's try to break this down. When Paul writes in verse 10, when that which is perfect has come, in the context of all that is written, and we read verses 11 through 13, what does Paul have in mind when he says that when that which is perfect has come? Is he referring to the Bible or is he referring to something else? What do you see? Collins, please go ahead. Yes, Pastor. As far as I can see, when you read through starting from verse 8 to verse 12 to verse 13, according to what I can internalize all what I can think, even elsewhere where I read, I think it deals with when we say if we know in part that means the word of God, which is just part knowledge, and we prophesy in part falls in the same category, but when that which is perfect is come, refers to the rapture of the church, that is resurrection. So that is what I can think. One is before, as we are right now, what we know, we know it in part because we know just knowledge, and when he says that face to face, it actually means after resurrection we shall know everything because we shall be facing face to face with the Christ. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you, Collins. Yeah, correct. You see, in verse 10 when he says when that which is perfect is come. Now, what's he referring to? What does he have in mind? So we have to read on, right? So he says verse 11, when I was a child, I spoke like a child, so I became a man. That means I reached up to say the maturity. I got out of childish things. First, for now, we see in a mirror. So why are we prophesying in part? Why do we know in part? Because now we see dimly through a mirror. That means we are not seeing everything clearly, but then face to face. So the key here is face to face then. So the when of verse 10, when that which is perfect is come, is answered in verse 12, then face to face. So what is the when? When that which is perfect is come? Well, it is when we see him face to face. Because he answers it very right next, you know, a couple of verses, then face to face. And when we see him face to face, what happens? We will know just as we are now. That means we'll know everything. But now we know in part. So we prophesied in part. Why? Because we are seeing dimly, like as we are seeing through a glass. But then when the perfect is come and what is the perfect, he's answering that for us in verse 12, when we see him face to face. So it is wrong, completely wrong to say that when that which is perfect is come refers to the Bible. He's not referring to the Bible. He's referring to seeing Jesus face to face. So until then, until then, the gifts of the spirit, that is prophecy and our knowledge, it'll continue, but it will always be in part. But then we see him face to face, which as Colin said, is going to be after the resurrection. We're going to see him face to face. Then we will know as we are known, we will know everything. Then we don't need these gifts. So to use this passage and say, because the Bible has come, we don't need the gift is an incorrect interpretation. The correct interpretation is found right here in the passage in verse 12, that the perfect he's Paul is talking about is seeing the Lord Jesus face to face. Any questions? Is it clear? So is that clear? It is in resurrection or in eternity. When we reach eternity, we will know. When we reach eternity, we will see everything face to face. We will know everything. Yes. So after we die and we raise, we go into heaven, we will see him face to face. That time we don't need the gifts, basically in eternity. So can you say it after resurrection or in eternity? So when... Okay, let's put it like this. When we see him face to face, when will we see him face to face? So one is after we leave this earth, after we die and we go into heaven. So when we go into heaven, in heaven, we won't need the gifts because we will see him face to face. Right. So when we're in heaven, okay, the resurrection has not yet happened, but we have stepped into eternity. We're seeing him face to face. So after we die, we're seeing him face to face. We won't need the gifts. But everything after death, right? Or it can happen in the rapture. So if we don't die but we are raptured, we're going to see him face to face. We won't need the gifts. Did I answer your question? Yes. So it's both, you know. I was thinking it is in eternity. So Pauline said it is after resurrection. So I wanted to clear it. Yeah. So basically it's after we step out of this world, this physical world. That means when we see him face to face, that's... Yeah. So now I want to put forward another difficult passage, which is in the next chapter, 1 Corinthians chapter 14. And so this is another passage. So let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. And we will read verses 34 and 35. And basically this passage, along with one more passage from 1 Timothy chapter 2, is used to tell that women must not preach the word of God, must not be ministers of the word of God. Okay. So we need to deal with both of these passages and try to understand them in context. So we'll do it one after the other. I want you to please look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 34 and 35. I will just read it out. But the question is, can women teach the word of God? 1 Corinthians 14, 34 and 35. Notice what Paul writes here. He says, let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home for a sinful for women to speak in church. Okay. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 34 and 35. So the question is, can we, as some people do, take these two verses, and we will look at 1 Timothy chapter 2 after we explain this. Can these two verses be used to state very categorically that women must not preach in the church? Okay. So take a few moments and just give me, just take a few months to think about it. Just give me two minutes. I'm going to turn my video off. I need to just attend to something. I'll come right back, but take a few minutes to think about it and we will take your answer. Okay. I'll be right back. Okay. Any thoughts can be used for Corinthians chapter 14 verses 34 and 35. Is it right to say, based on these two verses, that women cannot speak in church, preach in church, teach the word of God in church, minister the word of God? What are your thoughts? Anyone? Feel free to share your thoughts. Paul, let's go ahead, please. First, I don't know how it is true, but I'm just sharing just like a student in class, but I hear that this is to do partly because of the historical context. In the church those days, women and men used to sit in opposite directions. And whenever there was a question, a woman would have to ask the husband the question. So that would be interrupting the service. So that's why Paul was like, now, ladies, if you have something to ask, ask from your husband as a way of not interrupting the service, because if women were supposed to keep quiet, even if the worship services, they wouldn't keep quiet, they wouldn't be singing, they wouldn't be, because that is also serving the Lord. So I think it doesn't literally mean that professors, ladies who are teachers, ladies who are pastors should shut their mouth in the church. It was actually as a fact of historical and cultural context and the way the setup was. Basically, it doesn't mean that. It just meant that what was being done during the historical and the cultural context of that time. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. I also see Brother Mano was, he mentioned Joel 228, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy so men can speak in church. Okay. Anybody else? Okay. So what Colin shared and what Brother Mano also shared is both are correct. So how do we understand what Paul is saying? Right? So now when we read these two verses, 1 Corinthians 14, 34 and 35, of course, you need to understand it in the passage that he is, that it is given in the context. And of course, we also need to bring in what does the Bible say in the rest of scripture and other places in scripture? Right? Now, what I want us to notice is a couple of things. One is he says, keep silent, keep silent, right? Paul uses this phrase, keep silent in the same chapter three times, right? And so, for example, in about speaking in verse 28, right? In verse 28, in connection with speaking in tongues, right? So he says, if somebody wants to give a message in tongues to the church, he says in verse 27, let them speak, take turns to speak. But verse 28, he says, if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent. So first time, keep silent. Then again, in terms of prophecy, he says, you know, if anybody wants to prophesy, let them prophesy speak two or three. But if anything is revealed to another who sits, let the first keep silent. That's verse 30. So he's using that same phrase, keep silent in respect to prophesy, right? Then third time, he's using keep silent is in verse 34, having to deal with women. So if we say, well, if you use this and say, well, Paul said women, keep silent, keep silent. All the women must keep silent. Then everybody wants to prophesy, must keep silent. Everyone wants to speak in tongues. No, that's not it. He's giving us basically guidance on how to conduct ourselves when we come together for service, what we call a service, when we come together as a church. So when you're speaking in tongues, you take turns and you're giving a message to the church to take turns. And the message has to be interpreted. If there's no interpreter, then you keep silent. Same thing with prophecy. You take turns to prophesy. If somebody else starts prophesying, the previous one must keep silent. So he's not saying don't ever give a message in tongues. He is not saying don't ever prophesy in church. He's just saying, you know, follow proper order. So therefore verse 34 and 35, when he says women keep silent, again, it must be understood as a way by which Paul is saying there's a proper way to do things in church, proper order. That's why he's saying keep silent. Doesn't mean that women must never preach or speak. Second thing I want to point out is in verse 34 and 35, he's speaking specifically to married women. He's not speaking to all women, right? Because he says let women keep silent. That's verse 34. And if they want to learn something next verse 35, if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home. But then what about the women who are not married? So he's only speaking to women who are married. That if you are on a question. So that's the second thing. He's not speaking to all women. He's speaking to women who are married. He says, okay, you go and ask your question. And third thing I want to point out is that very specifically, he's talking about, he's not referring to preaching the word of God or ministering the word of God. As Collins pointed out, he's referring to women asking questions. That is the matter he's addressing. So verse 34 and 35 are together, right? And what is the matter he's addressing? He's addressing if they want to learn something, if they want to ask question, then you want something to be explained. Then don't speak in church. Don't ask the question in church. As a married woman, you go home and ask your husband. So that's the matter he's addressing. Okay. So just looking at the context, he's talking about keeping silent three different times. So he is saying, so the intent here is not to forbid this, but to give proper order. Second, he's speaking to married women. Third, the matter he's addressing is about them wanting to learn something, asking questions. So it is in that situation or in that context he's saying, so if you want to paraphrase this, let married women who are having doubts and questions in the church service, let them keep quiet. Don't start talking and having conversation with your husband in the church. Wait till you get home. And when you're at home, you ask your question so that your husband can explain it to you because it's very shameful for married women to start having conversation inside church. It's shameful. It's not proper conduct. It's not proper behavior. So that is understanding these verses in the context. Then of course, when you look at the wider question biblical context, God has always used women. And as was pointed out in Joel 228, Acts 217, God said he will pour out a spirit in all flesh, including women, and they will all prophesy. So if God is pouring out his spirit on women and they can speak his word, then definitely he's not going to forbid them from speaking his word in the church setting. Did we all understand this? It's a break time, so we will go for a break. But this is okay. You got it? How to understand 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 34 and 35. Okay. So let's go for a break. We will come back and we'll pick up the other difficult passage in 1 Timothy chapter two. Okay. And I will fix my mic settings. Okay. See you soon. Thank you.