The Ohio Independent Baptist, October 1969

DR. _ORGE LAWLOR ,1r r(1a s tcll. -- tc. tiin1i11tttivc forn1 , I tl1i ~ \\'llrll a111) ~ars in Jc h11 (l:( •'fi h<.:·,'' ( O/JS<1ri<1) which were eaten \ ith l1rcatl hy the ht1ngry crow<.1. I.Jatc1. s ince \Li c h things a, n1cat, Cl)rn. f r u i ls. sa It . cl c., were gi vcn f1cc1t1cntly t \ lcli cr. a a pant of their pay in\tcad f c in. <JfJS011io11 l1cgan to ~ignify: I) a ')olclie r's pay 2) wage , in genera l. he background f thi word as THE ''WAGES'' OF SIN revealed in it u5age is inte res,ting a nd ignificant . lt i de rived fron1 the c la ical ve rb " to purcha e v ic– tual·· .' ' The word i reported to have e nte red the reek la nguage with Menande r , and i very common in the papyri and inscription . 1 l1c )\~c1111 t,1tc111cnt 1n R n1. 1:_3: ··1- 1r the \\age f in i~ d ath" , ,, ell k.n \\ n t hri tian . 'The n– t1rc , r ~ ~ 1. a final ~pl anati n f the t,, o ntra, ting lin that h ave -.; been f1ll )\\ d in the ont ·t: i.e. the ~er, 1tude of human t the in p wer. and the . r,·antho d of the aved to , J and h lin f life. Each ervi- tude reache an end . a goal - o, in th1~ re p t. the t\.\O are alike. Yet ther i a \ a t difference between the t\, . for the goal of the one i deat/1, ...... and the goal of the o ther i Ii/ e ete, 11al . The great difference i ex– plained in v . 23 by the fact that deat h i the wage of in wherea life eternal i the · gifit of God. ' The word "wage i a mo t in- tere ting term a nd h ould be carefully co11 idered. It i the Greek opsonion, which i compo ed of opson , 'all kind of food in general that are eaten with o,mething e]·--e and oneomai, "to buy .' o properly the word was u ed to de ignate ' whatever was bought to be eaten wimh bread" - uch as f i h, meats that are broiled In a papyru lette r of June 17. 1 B.C. , di covered by Grenfell and Hunt an Egyptian labourer named H ilarion write to his wife A Lis: "Be not di tre ed if at the return of my fellow-workmen I remain ait Alex– andrii a. I pray thee and beseech thee, take care of the little child. As soon a we receive wages (opsoni) I will end them up to it:hee." In another letter dated 120 A.D., a soldier write6 to a friend promising the repayment of a loan and says that he will repay (Continued on page 15) salm au~ nrm by Ralph T. Nordlund (Read Psalm XXIX in your Bible first) 1n torm a nd thunder cra~h , i\f aje tic lightning flash And rain...ifed flood that da h God call for pra i e and glory. In cloud of an angry ky, I n flame that fork and fly In cedar that nap and die, God awe t1·-- with Hi glory. \\'hen cedar-clothed Lebano n And sno\.\-cro'A ned irion Skip calf-like hither and yon God anctifie with His glory'. When "' ilderness pa ture shake And calving red deer quake And night \\ ith lightnings wake God prove to all Hi glory. The Lord in kinglihood its crowned upon the flood, Turns evil into good - 11ake peace in torm H is glory. The T~ent)r-ninth P alm celebrates God's glory as seen to \\ or-hip. and empha 1ze it by a poetic description of torm and earthquake. Even in thi sophi ticated d ay men pray \.\ hen the earth is convu1 ed with uch display' 10 OCTOBER, 1969 • of God s p ower; and in David's day they did so even more. They did not then say, "It rains," but, "God is sending rain. ', Since modern man does not bow the knee so quickly , we have begun with the terrors of earthquake and ·3torm and in each stanza ended up with a call to worship. The le son is the s,a,me, but the presen– tation i m ore dramatic. Sad but true modern man has to be hocked before he will listen to exhortation. ome reader may question our interpretation that David wa thinking of a combination of ,3torm and quake. M o t commentaries believe hi figurative description has only a evere thunder torm in mind. We will grant that Hebrew poetry i very picturesque; but it would seem a bit too exaggerated to say that mountains s kip like a calf in a torm. Then too a torm in northern Pale tine would carcely cause the wilderne s of Kadesh to tremble a hundred and f ifty mile to the outh. If an earthquake truck at the ·3an1e time as the torrn, however, all this would be true. It would tremble all over Pale tine, no matter where the epi-center was. Thi P alm i not only a call to worship, but an anti– do te to fear . Let trembling hinds bring forth their fawns prema turely under the terrors of earthquake and storm but God s people ought to be of firmer tuff. Some of u·-- enjoy the glory of a torrn ~ but if you were born and in fear try reading P alm Twenty-nine when tempted to tremble. THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST