March 2002

Volume 2, Issue 1

Ideas & Resources For Pastors by Sandy Simpson

Inside this issue:

translations you can find for study and message preparation. Following is a list of English Bible translations. They are rated on a scale of 1 to 10 as to how literal they are (word for word as compared to the Greek and Hebrew) -- a 1 being the most literal and a 10 being the least literal.

LITERAL

Rating=1
The New Greek-English Interlinear (1993) best interlinear
The Interlinear Hebrew-Greek-English Bible (1980) best OT interlinear
The NIV Interlinear Hebrew English Old Testament (1985) English word meanings from NIV; NIV in margin

Rating=1½
America Standard Version (ASV-1901) - very good literal, if wooden, translation based on older scholarship

Rating=2 
English Revised Version (ERV-1881, 1885) or Revised Version (RV), a revision of KJV; slightly less literal than ASV; more textual variants in OT than ASV

Rating=2½ 
New American Standard Version (NASV, NASB-1963, 1971, rev. 1977, updated ed. 1995) revision of ASV; more modern English but not as literal, one of the two best for study

Bible Study by Juanita Simpson

The Parables of Jesus - Part 1
The Wedding Banquet
Matthew 22:1-14

What are parables? Jesus and the Jewish rabbis taught about God by using illustrations and stories that reach the heart through the imagination. Parables describe the unknown by using what is known. They are stories that seem to be simple and yet teach the very deepest truths of the universe. They are pictures that help us grasp what our invisible God is like. Why did Jesus use parables so much? Once the disciples asked Him that. Matt. 13:10 He gave them 2 answers: 1) To help believers better understand

spiritual truths Matt. 13:11,16; 2) To hide spiritual truths from those who refuse to see, hear and believe Matt. 13:13-15. The whole Bible is an open book to people of faith. It is a closed book to those who have no relationship with God.

To whom was Jesus speaking when He told this parable? Matt. 21:45-46 The chief priests and Pharisees were looking for a way to arrest Him because He had told them the truth. Here He describes for them the kingdom of heaven or God's kingdom. Of course, a kingdom must be led by a king. The King Jesus refers to is God Almighty. What is the king doing in this story? He is preparing a wedding

feast. Who's getting married? The King's Son, Jesus Christ, who will be King. The actual wedding feast is described in Rev. 19:6-8 Can you imagine anything more important than a wedding feast of a king or chief in Micronesia long ago, or the wedding feast of the President's son today?

There can't be a feast unless there are people there to celebrate. The king sent out his servants to invite the guests. Their job was to tell people that the king was calling them to come to his party. We find in Matt. 22:3 that these guests had already been invited. This was only a reminder that they were expected to

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