ALL ABOUT YOU: GIDEON, CHAPTER 48

THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY

An end-time metaphor of the judgment: a reverse parable

09-12-04

(John 8:1-5)  Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning [at dawn] he came again into the temple [courtyard], and all the people came unto him; and he sat down [a position of authority], and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master [instructor: teacher], this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou [“But what do You say… what is Your sentence” Ampl.]?

1.       taken = Gk: katalambano; (15x) to take eagerly, seized: apprehended.

2.       (Exo 20:14)  Thou shalt not commit adultery.

3.       (Lev 20:10)  And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

4.       (Deu 22:22-24)  If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you.

5.       What do stones symbolize in the Bible?

  THE TESTERS ARE TESTED: THE JUDGES ARE JUDGED

(John 8:6-7)  This they said, tempting [testing] him, that they might have [something] to accuse him [to charge him with some offence]. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued [persevered (persisted)] asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

1.       (Mat 22:15)  Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle [ensnare /// trap] him in his talk.

2.       Satan = Gk: the accuser, i.e. the devil:--Satan.

3.       (John 18:31)  Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful [under Roman law] for us to put any man to death:

4.       Commentary: Had Jesus disregarded the law of the Jews, He would have been condemned by the Jews and could have been put to death. Had Jesus disregarded the law of the Romans, He would have been condemned by the Romans and could have been put to death. So He wrote with His finger on the ground. ?????

5.       (Deu 17:7)  The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you.

  WHAT DID JESUS WRITE WITH HIS FINGER, ON THE GROUND?

(John 8:8)  And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground [“with his finger” v.6].

1.       ground = Gk: soil; a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe (including the occupants in each application):--country, earth (-ly), ground, land, world.

2.       (Exo 31:18)  And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone [the Law], written with the finger of God.

3.       (Jer 31:33)  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

4.      (Ezek 11:19)  And I will give them one heart [of understanding], and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart [stony understanding - Law] out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh [soft understanding - Grace]:

5.      (Mat 22:34-40)  But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting [testing] him, and saying, Master [instructor: teacher], which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. [“two tables of testimony, tables of stone” Exo 31:18]

(John 8:9-11)  And they which heard it [understood], being convicted [tell a fault, rebuked, reproved] by their own conscience [inward co-perception, i.e. moral consciousness], went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned [judged] thee? She said, No man, Lord [kurios; supreme in authority]. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

1.       Commentary: “they which heard it” heard what? Did they hear what Jesus said, or what Jesus wrote? All heard the Word, just as the four soils in The Sower Soweth the Word parable (Mark 4:14) all heard the Word. In both teachings, everybody hears the Word. In this particular narative, some hear the Word in their outward man with their head – the Law, and some hear the Word in their inward man with their heart – Grace.

2.       (2 Cor 4:16)  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish [to rot thoroughly, decay: be corrupted, destroyed], yet the inward man is renewed [restored] day by day.

3.       (Mat 7:1,2)  Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure [limited portion (degree)] ye mete [measure], it shall be measured to you again.

4.       (Rom 2:1)  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

5.       (Luke 6:37)  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

6.       Commentary: “the woman [was] standing in the midst” of the remaining people who had not wanted to stone her - the Law. These did not judge her for they understood that they also were sinners and that according to their judgment of her, they would be accordingly judged - thereby condemning their own selves. These remaining people had extended neighborly brotherly love, i.e. forgiveness - Grace.

7.       Commentary: “Woman, where are those thine accusers?” The narrative concludes this incident and end-time prophecy with the separation of the goats from the sheep (Mat 25:31-46). The accusers (Satanically controlled unbelievers) of the “woman” (the church in apostasy: Mat 13:33) all departed from the presence of a holy righteous God (Jesus) into outer darkness. Darkness cannot dwell in the presence of Light. The accusers now understood that by their own willful intent (mind-set) to judge the sin in the woman (others), they had condemned the sin in their own selves (self-condemnation: Rom 8:1). The goats departed and the sheep remained, exactly as it was in the days Noah and in the days of Lot (Luke 17:26-30 & Psa 37:29; Prov 2:21,22; 10:30; Heb 12:27).

8.       (John 3:17)  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

UNDERSTANDING

(John 8:12)  Then spake Jesus again unto them [the remaining people – of understanding, manifested by their forgiveness], saying, I am the light [luminousness, i.e. illumination - understanding: fire] of the world: he that followeth me [the fire in the night of the darkness of this world] shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light [illumination, fire, understanding] of life.

Amen

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