Verse by Verse

Clyde Kilough: 00:01

Hi. I'm Clyde Kilough, and this is Verse by Verse. The verse we're looking at today is very important on two levels. 1 for what it says, and the other for what some claim it doesn't say. The context is a time when the apostle Paul came to Ephesus, went to the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

Clyde Kilough: 00:23

It seems they wanted to talk with him more, but he had an important travel schedule to keep. So we read in Acts 18/21 that he took leave of them, saying, I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem. But I will return again to you, God willing. And he sailed from Ephesus. The important statement here is, I must, by all means, keep this coming feast in Jerusalem.

Clyde Kilough: 00:49

Now scholars agree this feast would have been one of the 7 annual festivals god gave to Israel right after they came out of slavery in Egypt. These festivals were kept through the centuries. The Jews preserved them after the other 10 tribes of Israel were conquered and scattered. Jesus, his disciples, and the early church kept them. In fact, it wasn't for another couple of centuries after Jesus' time that heretics began doing away with these feasts and replacing them with new religious holidays.

Clyde Kilough: 01:19

Since that time, many have tried to justify abandoning the keeping of these days, sometimes by twisting Paul's own words. But ironically, Paul was adamant about the need to observe god's festivals. We read in Acts 20 verse 6 that we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread. And in verse 16 that Paul was hurrying to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. Luke in Acts 27:9 notes sailing was now dangerous because the fast was already over.

Clyde Kilough: 01:52

The fast is recognized as the Day of Atonement. In 1st Corinthians 5, Paul talks about the days of unleavened bread and the Passover, stating plainly in verse 8, therefore let us keep the feast. In chapter 11, he gives instruction about how to observe the Passover. And in chapter 16 verse 8, he wrote, I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost. Clearly, Paul diligently observed all these festivals and instructed the Gentile Christians to keep them.

Clyde Kilough: 02:22

They were, in fact, yearly milestones around which he planned much of his life. They were not Jewish festivals. They were god's festivals. And this emphasis on keeping them is the first important thing to note from this verse. Now here's the other important consideration.

Clyde Kilough: 02:42

A number of the more recent translations of the Bible do not include the statement, I must, by all means, keep this coming feast in Jerusalem. Among them, the most popular is the New International Version, the NIV. That statement is not there, which obviously raises the question, why isn't it? Well, the reason for such differences is a variation between the two types of ancient Greek text from which we get the translations today of the Bible. This is important to know.

Clyde Kilough: 03:18

Briefly, the 2 major New Testament text types are the Byzantine and Alexandrian. Thousands of ancient manuscripts of the Byzantine text type exist, and they closely match each other. This is the traditional text of the Greek speaking churches. At the time the King James Bible was translated into English, the Byzantine text was represented by what was called the Textus Receptus, or the Received Text. The New King James Version, which was published in 1982, continued with the Textus Receptus as its basis.

Clyde Kilough: 03:57

On the other hand, the Alexandrian, or Egyptian, text type forms the basis for most of the modern translations. The Alexandrian text type consists mainly of 2 manuscripts, the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus. These became popular in the late 19th early 20th centuries when they were discovered, mainly because they were older. Scholars compiled what is called the majority text, based on the consensus of Greek manuscripts. However, scholars have noted that the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus texts often disagree with one another, and Sinaiticus seems to have excessive omissions.

Clyde Kilough: 04:39

Now here at Life Open Truth, we see the Byzantine text generally as the more reliable and superior text, and that the King James and New King James Bibles present the reader with a more accurate version of the New Testament. And to be fair, the New King James Version has marginal notes to alert the reader when it differs with the majority text. So it's interesting that the ancient manuscripts that leave out, I must by all means keep this coming feast, or the ones we call the western manuscripts, the ones that come from Italy, Rome, and areas controlled by Rome. This means one of 2 things had to happen. Either that statement wasn't in there in the 1st place and someone added it, or it was in the original and someone took it out.

Clyde Kilough: 05:27

Now, given that many of the doctrinal changes that crept into the church originated in Rome, and history shows that soon after the church began, there was opposition to what were seen as Jewish activities, it's not hard to see some people saying, why don't we leave out this little statement about Paul keeping this feast? But on the other hand, given that Paul clearly demonstrated in numerous other places his practice of keeping and teaching the observance of these biblical festivals, the weight of evidence is that I must, by all means, keep this coming feast in Jerusalem should be in the scripture. And of further importance to you and me today, it raises the question, should not we be keeping these biblical festivals?

Kevin Scarbrough: 06:19

Verse by Verse is a companion podcast to the daily bible verse blog, which you can find on the Life, Hope, and Truth Learning Center. Check out the show notes for more.