October 17, 2009

Texts:
1 Kings 6-7
Galatians 2

Kings:
If the dates are right, the temple would have been started in 960 BCE. The question with the dates is that scholars don't really think the Exodus would have taken place as early as 480 years earlier than that 960 date. Remember the Egyptian courts are better documented, historically, than most Israelite history.

The temple would have been 90 feet by 30 feet, and 50 feet tall.
The palace took almost twice as long to build and nearly twice as big.
Discuss.

Notice, again, the conditional language of God's relationship. "IF you will walk in my statutes....THEN I will establish my promise...."
What does that mean to you?

Galatians:
Paul is building his case to justify his authority to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Galatians shouldn't be fooled by people who say they're speaking for Jerusalem, because Jerusalm authorized Paul to preach!
This section also makes clear that the story Paul tells of his own life is different than the story told about his life in Acts. In Acts, he and Peter get along just fine. Here, "I opposed him to his face" (2:11).

The other fun fact in this chapter is in the translation of verse 2:16. NRSV has it as "Yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ..." That translation is fine, but here is a slightly different translation, just as legitimate as far as the Greek is concerned, but see if it changes the reading for you: "Yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith of Jesus Christ..."
This preposition can just as easily be translated either way. Which one do you prefer? Why?