The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 1970

- THE DEATH TRAP - R..,,n1a11, 14: I _ 1, ~1 ,tr ng. le111n t, tt:11,t:nt ,ctti11g t rtl1 the heh , cr·s ~ra, t: re r,Jn"1h1l1t~ tn the rcal111 f g""'l"il, c , 111~1lc rt1e hrt ~r,an ~re ,n trtl(tcJ t 1 not engage in declaring 1t1dg111cnt: tip n ea h oth r. but in- ~ tc'"1 arc thec11 ... l\e t pr not1nce 1 t1dgn1ent tip n then1 el, e . i.e. that the~ ,,,ill n ither be re p n ible for placing a tun1bl1ng-bloc~ in the ~ ay f a f llo\\ -believer. nor for making a f 11 \\ - hri tian to fall. There are c,, ,, rd ... ccurr1ng in the la t clau e: ..that n n1an put a tumbling-block or an cca ion to fall in hi brother' ,, a, ·· - \\ hich are generally u ed in - ' the Te\\ Te tament to render tum- bling-block." or ..occa ion for tum- ...... bling or falling:· One i prosko111ma, .... . ... tumbling-block,, o tran lated 1n Rom. 14: 13 .The other word i skan– dalon. rendered ..an occa ion to fall' ' in the Roman 14: 13 text. Each of the e \\ ord i more than once tran - lated ·· tumbling-block. offence · in the KJ\r. and they are joined together in Rom. 9: 33 and I Pet. 2: 8. a well a in Rom. 14: 13. everthele there is a difference of meaning between the t"1o noun which hould be noted. The,· are not t\vo word u ed to ex- ; pre the ame idea. Paul doe not u e \.\Ord needle ly, and the particle ··or.. expre e a di tinction, a grada– tion bern 1 een " tumbling-block' and ~·occa ion to fall' '. The econd of the t,\ o \.\ ord i graver than the first and it i th1 la t term, the econd of the t\\ o \\ ord . which will occupy our attention in thi brief tudy. An Interesting -Word Skandalon 1 a mo t interesting \\'Ord. It occur twenty-fi\e time in the Septuagint. and fifteen times in the .L • e'A Testament, but is found onl)· occa 1onall}T 1n the philosophi– cal writing and the papyri . It i c; ig– nificant to note ho,,,.'e\er. that 1n the comparati,,eJ~, fe, u age 1n the earl)' 10 FEBRUARY, 1970 ,reek. \\ rit1ng , the empha i of the \\ ord, f otind n1ainl y in the verb form. i, tip n the idea of Htrap, hare.. and n t .. ... tun1bling-block". For e ample ri tophane u ed a form of the word ( skandaleirl,ron) to tran late " tick of a mou e trap"~ and another occur– rence ( ·kandaleithr' /1istas epon) i rendered " etting word-trap . The verb (skandalic/zo) eem to be near– ly alway u ed in the en e of " et a trap for' . rather than to ' 'place a tumbling-block in the way of" omebody. Thi very meaning of the word i found in the Septuagint Ver ion in a number of pa ages uch a Jo h u a 2 3 : 13 ("trap ', skandala): Judge 2: 3 (" nare' ' skan– dalon) ~ P alm 69: 22 ("trap' ' skan– dalon) : P aim 106: 3 6 ( ' nare" skan– dalon) · P alm 119: 165 ("offend' , skandalon ): P aim 141 : 9 ( "trap ' . skandalon). So the primary en e of thi ignificant word i literally that of a "trap·· or trap-stick·· - the movable tick or trigger which i that part of a trap upon which bait i fa tened a nd which the animal trike again t , thu pringing the trap and bringing death to the victim - hence a ' death-trap . The ew Te tament u e of skan- dalon carrie the ame connotation and hould be con idered in this light. The word ha a profound ignificance in the ew Testament with the ever– pre ent ba ic idea of 'death-trap' . It ha the clear en e of 'trap in such pa age a Roman 9: 33 Chri t the Mes iah i the ' rock of offence· ( petran skandalou) again t whom un– believer trike, and thus pringing the trigger, are caught in the trap of rejection and judgment for their unbelief. I Peter 2: 8 ha the word in the same en e rock of offence" ( petra skandalou), i.e. the great moral conflict between I rael and her Me - 1ah. and the people' unbelief which re t1lt in penal judgment. The dead- lin~s <)I tl1is St n < Iii . "rock-111~1 · I s t I 1 " s a 111 ' I a 11 \ h < ti i I c I i e, ,c c1 n , ·j ·ct JI in1 - IJ<lth J '\\' anLf ,en tile S · c 1 a l 1• 2 I : , ,v 11 • rc ( h r is t l I i m se lf sa ' S this Slone will fnll 111 \Vh 111 s<) er rejects I l i111 ,tntl grintl that i11<.l1\1<.ltt,1I l<l 11owtlcr. '"I he s:1 111e ig 11 j f ,ca nee () f l he V or<.I ar> J)Ca rs j n R )fl) I I: t. in which ve rse Patil c1uc1tc~ J>~a l,11 (19·?_, r1nc.l ca ll s attcntio11 t tl1c unl1el1cf of the Jcwi..,h nation an<.I in the JJi ctt1resqt1c langu , gc f the [>')alt11 c.le. crihc~ how l~rael struck the tra p-trigger of what was all for the hcnef1l ancl hle\ ing of the Jcw– i'ih people, and fell into the death. trap of a jt1c;t retr1bt1tion and juclg- 111ent for their t1nbel1cf and reject ion . Entice ment To San The word also carrie the thought of enticement to in , a trap of apos– ta y. In the well-known pa age, Matt. J 6: 23, the word occur in the Lord's addre to Peter after the latter had begun to rebuke Chri t becau e of Hi announcement of the nece ity for Hi atoning death on the cross and re urrection from the dead: ' Get thee behind me, Satan: Thou art an offence (skandalon) unto me. . :· The word here hould be rendered "trap" or trap- tick,' - for it con– vey the idea of an enticement which, if yielded to mean des truction. Peter' well-meant urging wa a hu- 111anization of the great work of re– demption and though unwittingly moved by the be t intention , Peter had made him elf an agent of Satan. Thi constitute a warning for u to watch our love our good intentions, our zealou activities and endeavors, and our be t act le t they are in agreement with Satan' program and not with the Lord' plan. Our Lord Je u Chri t aw the satanic trap set 1 or Him in Peter word knew full¥ the deadly danger of the trap o turned to Peter with His harp re– ply. The thing of God" are the great ble sed aving purpo e plan and program of God and related thing while 'tho e that be of men' ' are the bl ind erroneou , sinful pur– pose , plan , and ways of men. If. the Lord had yielded to Peter' ap– peal and had prung the death-trap \ivhich Satan had laid for Christ through Peter - destruction for Him and for mankind would have re- ulted. Skandalon al o occurs in Romans 16: 17, where true believers are ad– moni bed to "mark them which cause division and offences (skandala) contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned: and avoid them." This (Continued on page 15) THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST