Pastor Jasmine Trott - May 18, 2025

Dr. Barclays Bible Study - The Book of Ephesians Part 21

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - MOTHERS

MOTHERS 

Honour your Father and Mother

Thus begins the fifth commandment which in its entirety reads:

Honour your father and your mother, 

that your days may be long upon the land 

which the Lord your God is giving you. 

(Exodus 20:12) 

Mother’s Day was first instituted by Anna Jarvis who sought to honour her own mother. It was first celebrated in a memorial service at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in 1908 and became, in the US, a national holiday about six years later. Unfortunately, the concept of a day to honour one’s mother soon became so commercialized and overtaken by gift giving that the founder of the day was essentially asking for the holiday to be removed from the calendar and Jarvis denounced the very holiday she had herself established.

Does this not seem to be the case with many of the days, rightly or wrongly, that have been chosen to commemorate events both historically and religiously? Even though the date may not be correct, December 25 has still been used to celebrate Christ’s birth, and Easter, His death and resurrection. Yet these days, along with others, have become so commercialized that the original purpose for the day has all been but forgotten.

And so it is as well with the day chosen to honour mothers. It has become another time to purchase candy, flowers, jewellery, or something else. There is nothing wrong with purchasing gifts, but how often are such items placed in substitute for the real thing - the honouring of mothers and what they have done and continue to do for us each day?

When the commandment above was first given, women were felt to have no real place in society other than to be property for the male. They had no legal rights as such, no social standing, and were really considered just property. For God to give a law recognizing both sexes as equal and requiring honour was probably a new concept for the Hebrew nation. In fact, in many places in the Bible where the word father is used it really refers to both the father and mother as parents. 

So therefore, throughout the year mothers should be truly honoured, not just with candy and flowers but with the love, respect, and consideration they deserve. And if that is done then one can say that the fifth commandment has been upheld and that the chance of…

 

your days [being] long upon the land which

the Lord your God [has given] you

may come to fruition because you have given

Honour [to] your father and mother.

Always something to think about.

Pastor Matthew Trott May 11, 2025

Dr. Barclays Bible Study - The Book of Ephesians Part 20

Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - MEANINGS

                                                                                                    

                                                                                              MEANINGS

One of the difficulties encountered when reading the Bible is the fact that different words may have the same meaning or the same word may have different meanings. This may cause difficulties in accepting what is being stated in Scripture.

For example, In Leviticus it states that:

On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight 

is the Lord’s Passover.

(Leviticus 23:5)    

It also says in the book of Esther that:

…the first month, which is the month of Nisan… 

(Ester 3:7)

Now, at the first Passover, the Hebrews were told to do quickly what had to be done for even…

…the Egyptians urged the people, 

that they might send them out of the land in haste.

(Exodus 12:33)

So apparently, the exodus began shortly after Passover in the month of Nissan. But in Deuteronomy it states:

Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, 

for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt… 

(Deuteronomy 16:1)

It’s important to know the Abib refers to the month of newly ripened grain and is an older term in Judaism for the month of Nisan.

Similarly, in the Bible and in Mosaic Law, leaven is used to represent sin or corruption. And when the Hebrews were told to bake unleavened cakes it meant that they were to leave behind the sin and bondage of Egypt. Additionally, their cakes were not leavened because…

 

…they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait [for bread to rise]…

(Exodus 12:39)

In the New Testament, however, Jesus also spoke about leaven in a parable.

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, 

which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal 

until it was all leavened. 

(Matthew 13:33)

In the Old Testament, leaven represented sin and bondage and was to be left behind when the Hebrews fled from Egypt. Just as one rotten apple can ruin the whole bushel, a little sin can infect and corrupt a whole people. But in the New Testament, Jesus referred to leaven in a different way but again as a substance which can permeate the whole as it did with the Pharisees and Sadducees.

…beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

(Matthew 16:11)

But leaven may also refer to the symbolism of the church [a woman] mixing the message with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [three measures of wheat] until the earth is permeated. Again, as it says in Matthew:

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, 

which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal 

until it was all leavened. 

(Matthew 13:33)

It’s always important to consider context and meaning when reading or studying Scripture and that in turn is something to always think about.

 

Pastor Jasmine Trott - May 4, 2025