Psalm 69 and the Messiah of God (Modified Talk)

One way to identify a person is by obtaining his or her fingerprint--we even see this technology with phones. In a similar manner, we can identify God's Anointed One or Messiah by the unique way in which he fulfilled Bible prophecies: that Messiah is Jesus Christ.

While various texts in the Pentateuch, the prophets, and the Psalms bear witness about Christ, we're going to consider a few verses from Psalm 69 in order to see what they tell us about Jehovah's chosen Messiah (Luke 24:44).

1) Psalm 69:4-this verse initially applied to King David. His enemies wanted to kill him without cause. 

John 15:24-25-Christ was hated without cause, yet he showed courage to the point of putting his life on the line. Jesus riled up the religious leaders of his day by doing God's will. What an example that he set for us as Witnesses of Jehovah since we're often hated without cause too.

2) A second event foretold can be found in Psalm 69:9. 

"For jealousy for your house has eaten me up" (Byington)

Notice how Jesus fulfilled this prophecy in John 2:13-17-(show picture)

Godly jealously or zeal consumed Jesus; it was like fire in his bones. Jesus could not tolerate people making a mockery of God's house. In his day, things had devolved to such a point that Israelites who offered sacrifices were being charged excessive prices by the religious leaders and exploitation took place with the money changers. Again, Jesus sets an example for us. Are we similarly jealous for Jehovah's interests?

3) The prophecies about Jesus were not vague but offered numerous specifics. We find one example of this point in Psalm 69:20-21. Jesus felt deep emotional agony/heartbreak and was offered wine mixed with gall. As we know, Jesus refused the poisonous drink because he evidently wanted to be alert while accomplishing Jehovah's will.

Insight Book: "In recording the fulfillment of this prophecy, Matthew (27:34) employed the Greek word kho·leʹ (gall), the same term found in the Greek Septuagint at Psalm 69:21. However, Mark’s Gospel account mentions myrrh (Mark 15:23), and this has given rise to the view that in this case the 'poisonous plant' or 'gall' was 'myrrh.' Another possibility is that the drugged drink contained both gall and myrrh."

These three points from Psalm 69 are a mere snapshot of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. However, they contain abundant meaning for us and strengthen our conviction that Jesus is the true Messiah by means of whom Jehovah's promises become yes (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Acts 18:5 (Inceptive Use?)

I am drawing my Acts 18 discussions to a close; after this post, I will conclude with vss. 24-28, which narrate details about Apollos, a devout Jew from Alexandria. But this entry will concentrate on Acts 18:5 now.

Greek (WH): Ὡς δὲ κατῆλθον ἀπὸ τῆς Μακεδονίας ὅ τε Σίλας καὶ ὁ Τιμόθεος, συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ ὁ Παῦλος, διαμαρτυρόμενος τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις εἶναι τὸν χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν.

Translation (NASB): "But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ."

Issues: How should we understand the verb συνείχετο (from συνέχω), which NASB renders "began devoting himself"? J.B. Phillips translates the entire verse thus: "By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia Paul was completely absorbed in preaching the message, showing the Jews as clearly as he could that Jesus is Christ."

Darrell Bock (Acts, BENTC): offers this explanation: "The verb συνείχετο (syneicheto) is imperfect and has an ingressive force (became 'absorbed in' or 'devoted to'). The verb can have the meaning of being 'constrained' or 'compelled' to do something (BDAG 971 §§6–7). The dative τῷ λόγῳ (tō logō) has the syntactical force of reference or respect: Paul devoted himself 'with respect to' the word (Moulton and Turner 1963: 220)."

NET Bible appeals to BDAG and likewise translates the verb inceptively: "Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming the word"

NWT 2013: "When, now, both Silas and Timothy came down from Mac·e·doʹni·a, Paul began to be intensely occupied with the word, witnessing to the Jews to prove that Jesus is the Christ."

F.F. Bruce: "he was able therefore to concentrate on the preaching of the gospel, and he sought to convince his Jewish hearers that the promised Messiah had come, and had come in the person of Jesus."

See The Book of Acts (New International Commentary on the New Testament) (Kindle Locations 12149-12151). Eerdmans Publishing Co - A. Kindle Edition.

The verb διαμαρτυρόμενος refers to the witnessing, preaching or testifying that Paul did in Corinth: it is a present middle participle. See Deuteronomy 30:19; Acts 20:21; 28:23; 2 Timothy 2:14; 4:1.

Just who were these Jews? In view of previous conversations here, I wonder if we can limit these individuals to Judeans.