The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming

Latest Episodes:

Ephesians 5:25-32 Loving and Giving “as Christ!” Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

In Ephesians 5:22-32 the unity of believers in one body with Christ is illustrated in the three sections: (1) verses 22-24, (2) verses 25-27 and (3) 28-32. The introductory verses are 19a and 21. The summary verse is 32.

in verse 25b, two main ideas are grouped together in the center of the linchpin. They are: “As Christ loved” and “as Christ gave of himself.”

Believers in Christ are to love and give of ourselves one to another. This is how we walk in the Spirit, submitting reciprocally one-to-another.

In verse 32, Paul confirms this in an “all of the above” statement. What was once a mystery, formerly unknown, has been clarified by verses 22-31. In verse 32 Paul writes, “This is a great mystery, that is now revealed. It has to do with Christ and the church.”

Although many claim that the last half of Ephesians 5 is not about the church but is all about marriage, the clear summary statement of verse 32 should redirect them onto the right track. It is about the church. Ephesians 5:21-32 is all about believers caring for one another, submitting reciprocally, in the church of Christ.

But wait! There’s more! Paul balances out verses 22-31 on the one side of verse 32 with all of the material in 5:33 to 6:9 on the other side of 5:32. Because of the chapter break after verse 33 we usually don’t see that Paul has put together one very large chiastic parallel pattern with three sections on each side of verse 32.

On the one side of this giant rainbow pattern going up to verse 32 are the three “as Christ” examples. On the other side going down after verse 32 is a three-part pattern from life in the family at the time of Paul.

GO DEEPER!

The Tru316 Foundation (www.Tru316.com) is the home of The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming where we “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16. The Tru316 Message is that “God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way.” Once Genesis 3:16 is made clear the other passages on women and men become clear too. You are encouraged to access the episodes of Seasons 1-11 of The Eden Podcast for teaching on the seven key passages on women and men. Are you a reader? We invite you to get from Amazon the four books by Bruce C. E. Fleming in The Eden Book Series (Tru316.com/trubooks). Would you like to support the work of the Tru316 Foundation? You can become a Tru Partner here: www.Tru316.com/partner

Ephesians 5:21-24 Christians Submitting “as Christ!” Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

The New Verb in verse 22. The action and the people involved in the incomplete sentence of verse 22 – “wives … to your husbands” must be filled in with the paired actions of the Spirit-filled believers in Ephesians 5:19a and 21. Thus Paul’s meaning in verse 22 is

Wives and husbands be submitting to the teaching and correction you are receiving from one another in Christ

-ing verbs can be read as having an exclamation point after each of them so I can read verse 22 this way too: “Wives and husbands submit to the teaching and correction you are giving to one another in Christ.”

Verses 22 to 24 are formed by Paul not in a 1, 2, 3 linear pattern of ideas but as a mirror parallel or chiastic pattern. It follows an A B B' A' pattern. That means that the two parts in the middle in verse 23 are linked together, and that verses 22 and 24 are linked and mirror one another. Since verse 24 is a mirror of verse 22 we can look at it to find out about the last couple of words in verse 22. “to the Lord.” Why does Paul add these words?

In verse 24 Paul writes in Greek “as the church submits to Christ even so wives to their husbands in everything.” Because we know what it means for Christians to submit to Christ in everything we know the limits and the extent of what it means for Christian wives to be mutually submitting themselves to their husbands as they and their husbands are teaching and correcting one another in their Christian walk.

These verses are not about how a household is to be organized, hierarchically or not. This is how two believers who are joined together in marriage are the ultimateexample of how Christians can be mutually building up one another in their Christian walk.

So verse 22 means: Christian couples be submitting yourselves to the speaking, the teaching and correction, you are getting from one another as to your life in Christ.

GO DEEPER!

Ephesians 5:19-21 Teaching & Submitting to One Another Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

Here are the four points for Spirit-filled walking in Ephesians 5:19-21. Each point in Greek starts with an -ing verb.

The first one, or part A, is “speaking.” In verse 19a we read, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”
The second one, or part B, is “singing.” In verse 19b we read, “singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord.”
The third one, or part B prime, is “giving thanks.” In verse 20 we read, “giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.”
And the fourth one, or A prime, is “submitting.” In verse 21 we read, “submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.”

The first and last of these four points, A and A prime, go together. These are “one another” activities. And the middle two, B and B prime go together. These two are directed “toward God.”

Notice that two of these activities must be done in the Body of Christ? A person can’t do the A and A prime “one-another” activities all alone! This is one reason to make sure you’re involved in a local group of believers, a local church. How can you do “one another” activities alone? How else can you do “one other” activities?

As part of a local church body of believers you know the names of who Paul has in mind in these verses for you. These would be the names of all the other believers with you in your local church. Treating “one-another” in these mirrored ways leads to good health in the body of Christ.

GO DEEPER!

Ephesians 5:15-21 Spirit-Filled Walking Dec 22, 2020

Show notes

The “speaking” simply stated as such in Ephesians 5:19a involves two practical actions, “teaching and admonishing.” All believers filled with the Spirit are to teach one another the truths found in the psalms, in hymns and spiritual songs. Every believer is to inform or remind every other believer in the Body of Christ. On the other hand, and where necessary, believers are to admonish, or correct, one another.

This is the first way believers are to experience the Spirit-filled life. Believers of all ages are to teach and correct one another.

Is this understanding of the meaning of 5:18b contrary to what many people say it is? Yes. Teaching that being Spirit-filled is ALL about speaking in tongues or ALL about seeking to heal the sick and so on, is not what Paul tells us here using his four-point pattern. And there are other ideas that people mistakenly inject here and there in this long passage.

GO DEEPER

Season 2. Eph 5:15-6:9 Beyond Eden! Dec 15, 2020

Show notes

This Episode is the first in our Beyond Eden series on Ephesians 5:15-6:9. We begin with this overview and we look at common traps that lead to misinterpretation of important passages in Ephesians. Then, in the coming Episodes we’ll go more in depth.

GO DEEPER

Gen 3:17-20 Adam's Curse Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

In the Garden the man listens to the words of the serpent tempter. And the man makes the intent and actions of Satan his own. He too rebels against God.

Step by step he moves away from God and toward Satan!

Has Satan just thrown God’s words into question in 3:1? Apparently the man does too.
Does the man look with respect on the woman’s defense of God’s words reported in 3:2? We don’t read that he joins her in correcting the word of the serpent tempter.
Does he respect God’s warning against eating resulting in punishment? He apparently believes the serpent enough who lies and says “You will not surely die” according to 3:4.
Doesn’t he already know about good? God had named the Tree the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Does he want extra knowledge, to know evil?

And so, he eats the forbidden fruit.

When God judges the three at the Tree, God groups the man together with Satan in his words of judgment. God treats the woman apart from these two rebels because she doesn’t rebel on purpose. She disobeys only after being deceived.

God makes six points in addressing the serpent. And then God uses those same six points and exact wording, even to the repetition of sounds when he addresses the man. The way this passage is written out in Hebrew adds to the meaning of the words that are used. This repeated pattern of six common elements ties the two of them together in God’s evaluation of their intent and acts.

GO DEEPER

Genesis 3:16 - The 11 TRUE Words Dec 01, 2020

Show notes

To understand Genesis 3:16 we must recognize that in God’s first words to the woman in Line 1 God didn’t even touch on the subject of childbirth. (1) God spoke to her about shared sorrowful-toil (the Hebrew word is ‘itsebon) in field work and (2) God spoke to her about conception or pregnancy (the Hebrew word is heron) and especially of the offspring who would bruise Satan’s head.

The way the words are put together in a chiasm in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 carries meaning. And the way verses 15-17 are linked together in a linchpin construction by the two key words in Line 1 of Genesis 3:16 brings meaning. But the meaning of each word itself is also important.

In the two words of the linchpin construction that link God’s words to her with God’s words to the man and to the serpent the woman learns two things. Neither of them is a curse on her. One thing is about bad news. One thing is about good news.

The bad news she learns is that when God curses the ground because of the man it will affect her too. They both will experience ‘itsebon or “sorrowful toil” as they do field work to raise food from the cursed ground outside of Eden. God knows they will be going there and what life there will be like. So God describes to her what her experience will be like with the cursed ground. She will have ‘itsebon. She will have sorrowful-toil. That is bad news.

But God immediately moves on to tell her of good news. How can the words of 3:16 be taken as good news right after God’s stern judgment on the serpent tempter? Three of the four words in Line 1 ring of good news!

GO DEEPER

Genesis 3:15-17 The HIDDEN Patterns Nov 24, 2020

Show notes

God did NOT curse the woman in Genesis 3:16 IN ANY WAY! But modern translations make it look like God did. So it is necessary to think again about the word patterns in 3:15-17, and the larger context of Genesis 2-3, to see what God really said.

Genesis 2-3, in Hebrew, is a meaningful seven-part pattern that is a chiasm. A chiasm can be pictured as a rainbow or as a bell curve.

Line 1 of 3:16 is the center of a linchpin pattern that links verse 15-17. The first linking Hebrew word is ‘itsebon which means “sorrowful-toil” and points down to the same word used in verse 17. There God tells the man that the curse on the ground made because of him will result in ‘itsebon or “sorrowful-toil.” In working the ground with their hands each one, the woman and the man, would have ‘itsebon or “sorrowful-toil.”

In Line 1 of 3:16 the second linking Hebrew word heron which means “pregnancy” or “conception” points back to the Hebrew word zera‘ which means “seed” or “offspring” which is used in verse 15.

A literal translation of the four Hebrew words of Line 1 of Genesis 3:16 in English would be as follows: (1) Multiplying (2) I-will-multiply (3) your-sorrowful-toil (4) and-your-conception.

GO DEEPER

Genesis 3:14-15 Woman’s Enemy Nov 17, 2020

Show notes

God spells out the ultimate doom of the woman's enemy which will come through her. Even though he will persist in his attacks and even though figuratively he will bruise the heel of her offspring, who we know ultimately to be Jesus, her offspring will bruise Satan on the head.

In Genesis 3:15, in God’s last words to the serpent, God prophesies that the woman’s “seed” or “offspring” (the Hebrew word is zera‘) will defeat the Tempter. Bad news for the Tempter, but good news for the woman and all humanity!

God's words of Good News, called the protevangelium, carry over into God's first words to the woman in Genesis 3:16. God will certainly give her conception of the Offspring who will vanquish Satan!

Sadly, most modern translations of Genesis 3:16 cover over this promise and make 3:16 sound like a virtual curse. These mistranslations must be corrected! We need a true 316.

Go Deeper!

Genesis 3:1-13 Attack and Betrayal Nov 10, 2020

Show notes

Many blame Eve as the Temptress. This medieval idea is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says the Tempter in the Garden was the serpent. That is why God cursed the serpent Tempter. And that is one of the reasons why, when we look for a curse on the woman in the Hebrew text, we find none.

Satan tempted both the woman and the man. The Hebrew text in Genesis 3:1-5 shows him using plural pronouns each time he says “you.” In other words, he wasn’t aiming his words at just the woman. He was saying you-two, y’all, you-both. And the man was right there listening to all he said. Neither the woman nor the man had ever heard a lie before.

The woman became a second-degree offender when she ate of the forbidden fruit. She did not sin on purpose. She ate only after being deceived. However, the man became a first-degree offender. He sinned on purpose.

There is a clear distinction drawn between first- and second-degree sinning in the Bible. God makes that distinction in the judgement of the three that comes next in the Garden of Eden.

GO DEEPER

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

The Eden Podcast with Bruce C. E. Fleming

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected