Significance of 40 Days

[AV1611VET]

Both AV and yourself are locked in a room, seeing only trees.

Must be an arboreum nursery.

 

[RickG]

And, according to the Abrahamic Covenant, Abraham was the father of "forty" nations, I take it?

Genesis 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

As I pointed out in post #16, my pastor in his sermon this past Sunday did say that 40 refers to many, not a specific number.

Are we agreeing on something again?

 

[AV1611VET]

As I pointed out in post #16, my pastor in his sermon this past Sunday did say that 40 refers to many, not a specific number.

Are we agreeing on something again?

No.

 

[RickG]

No.

Well then, I guess my pastor and your pastor disagree. Do you agree with that?

 

[AV1611VET]

Well then, I guess my pastor and your pastor disagree. Do you agree with that?

Yes.

 

[AV1611VET]

I'd like to read your pastor's translation, and how he arrived at such a conclusion.

Wrong's Concordance, no doubt.

 

[lewiscalledhimmaster]

Wrong's Concordance, no doubt.

In fact, neither do all the major translations:

NASB : And He was in the wilderness forty days
ESV : And he was in the wilderness forty days,
NIV : and he was in the wilderness forty days,
NRSV : He was in the wilderness for forty days
NET : He was in the wilderness forty days,
ISV : He was in the wilderness for 40 days
NKJV : And He was there in the wilderness forty days,
KJV : And he was there in the wilderness forty days,

As far as the Greek goes, the only one @ biblehub.com which has a different spelling τεσσαράκοντα is in the RP Byzantine Majority Text (2005)

Καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα πειραζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ Σατανᾶ, καὶ ἦν μετὰ τῶν θηρίων, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι διηκόνουν αὐτῷ​

Greek Word Study Tool : period of forty days
Click on (search)

 

[Gracchus]

What's to say? Jesus could have fasted 100 days, if He so chose.

Why would he need to fast, to purify himself? Had he become impure? Even if he had, somehow, he wouldn't have needed to fast, since he could have accomplished the same in an instant! Moreover, it wouldn't have inconvenienced him at all, since he was divine. So, indeed, what was the point? He could have gone to the house of the three bears and had porridge with Goldilocks, if he had chosen to, so what's the point?

Christianity just doesn't make sense!

 

[TLK Valentine]

Why would he need to fast, to purify himself? Had he become impure? Even if he had, somehow, he wouldn't have needed to fast, since he could have accomplished the same in an instant! Moreover, it wouldn't have inconvenienced him at all, since he was divine. So, indeed, what was the point? He could have gone to the house of the three bears and had porridge with Goldilocks, if he had chosen to, so what's the point?

Christianity just doesn't make sense!

In all fairness, it probably made sense when it was first practiced by the ancient Hebrews -- but after centuries of institutionalized nonsense piled on top of it, it would hardly be recognizable to them....

 

[AV1611VET]

Why would he need to fast, to purify himself? Had he become impure? Even if he had, somehow, he wouldn't have needed to fast, since he could have accomplished the same in an instant! Moreover, it wouldn't have inconvenienced him at all, since he was divine. So, indeed, what was the point? He could have gone to the house of the three bears and had porridge with Goldilocks, if he had chosen to, so what's the point?

Christianity just doesn't make sense!

Jesus is our example that we should follow.

He was baptized, fasted, and even paid taxes.

Fasting has been defined as: suppressing the natural to bring out the spiritual.

Fasting for forty days also links Him scripturally to Moses and Elijah, who appeared to Him on the Mount of Transfiguration.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Jesus is our example that we should follow.

He was baptized, fasted, and even paid taxes.

No wonder Christians these days ignore him...

Fasting has been defined as: suppressing the natural to bring out the spiritual.

I can see why Jesus would need help to do that.

Fasting for forty days also links Him scripturally to Moses and Elijah, who appeared to Him on the Mount of Transfiguration.

So he did it because it was in the script.

 

[Gracchus]

Jesus is our example that we should follow.

Well, he advised that if you wanted to be one of his followers you should first sell all you have and give it to the poor. And if you would argue that would pose a hardship for your family he would tell you that if you loved your family more than you loved him, that you were not worthy of him.

He was baptized, fasted, and even paid taxes.

I believe that it is also said that he refrained from public prayer.

Fasting has been defined as: suppressing the natural to bring out the spiritual.

"Fast (2) (făst) intr.v. fast·ed, fast·ing, fasts
1. To abstain from food.
2. To eat very little or abstain from certain foods, especially as a religious discipline.
n.

1. The act or practice of abstaining from or eating very little food.2. A period of such abstention or self-denial.
[Middle English fasten, from Old English fæstan; see past- in Indo-European roots.]"
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.


You're doing it again, AV1611VET, re-defining words, a la Humpty Dumpty, to mean what you want them to mean.

Fasting for forty days also links Him scripturally to Moses and Elijah, who appeared to Him on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Yes, indeed, the gospel writers were very concerned that he fit the Procrustean Bed of the scriptures! So if there ever was a historical Jesus, he got stretched and trimmed until he would not even have recognized himself, just as you re-define words to mean what you want them to mean.

 

[RickG]

I know you are very studious, so you will appreciate the value of context.
Regardless, I thought you might find the following from perseus.tufts.edu of particular interest (that's if haven't already read it) :

'[89] When God gave the signal, and it began to rain, the water poured down forty entire days, till it became fifteen cubits higher than the earth; which was the reason why there was no greater number preserved, since they had no place to fly to. When the rain ceased, the water did but just begin to abate after one hundred and fifty days, (that is, on the seventeenth day of the seventh month,) it then ceasing to subside for a little while. After this, the ark rested on the top of a certain mountain in Armenia; which, when Noah understood, he opened it; and seeing a small piece of land about it, he continued quiet, and conceived some cheerful hopes of deliverance. But a few days afterward, when the water was decreased to a greater degree, he sent out a raven, as desirous to learn whether any other part of the earth were left dry by the water, and whether he might go out of the ark with safety; but the raven, finding all the land still overflowed, returned to Noah again. And after seven days he sent out a dove, to know the state of the ground; which came back to him covered with mud, and bringing an olive branch: hereby Noah learned that the earth was become clear of the flood. So after he had staid seven more days, he sent the living creatures out of the ark; and both he and his family went out, when he also sacrificed to God, and feasted with his companions. However, the Armenians call this place, (GREEK) 1 The Place of Descent; for the ark being saved in that place, its remains are shown there by the inhabitants to this day.

1 This (GREEK), or Place of Descent, is the proper rendering of the Armenian name of this very city. It is called in Ptolemy Naxuana, and by Moses Chorenensis, the Armenian historian, Idsheuan; but at the place itself Nachidsheuan, which signifies The first place of descent, and is a lasting monument of the preservation of Noah in the ark, upon the top of that mountain, at whose foot it was built, as the first city or town after the flood. See Antiq. B. XX. ch. 2. sect. 3; and Moses Chorenensis, who also says elsewhere, that another town was related by tradition to have been called Seron, or, The Place of Dispersion, on account of the dispersion of Xisuthrus's or Noah's sons, from thence first made. Whether any remains of this ark be still preserved, as the people of the country suppose, I cannot certainly tell. Mons. Tournefort had, not very long since, a mind to see the place himself, but met with too great dangers and difficulties to venture through them.'

Flavours Josephus - Antiquities of the Jews - Book I section 89

Interesting to say the least. What I see in Josephus description of the flood in "his context" applied to the context of the written account of that time. And maybe even more interesting is a somewhat different description of where the Ark may have landed. Or perhaps there is another account of the flood from where Josephus acquired his information.

 

[Avid]

Why would he need to fast, to purify himself? Had he become impure? Even if he had, somehow, he wouldn't have needed to fast, since he could have accomplished the same in an instant! Moreover, it wouldn't have inconvenienced him at all, since he was divine. So, indeed, what was the point? He could have gone to the house of the three bears and had porridge with Goldilocks, if he had chosen to, so what's the point?

Christianity just doesn't make sense!

I guess there are things we should not expect, but there are truths that can be conveyed. If these do spark an interest, there is understanding to be gained.

Hebrews 2
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Hebrews 4
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

I Corinthians 2
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
​

The LORD Jesus Christ was here as "all human," as well as being "all God." He set aside some of the things mentioned above, and that means He took on limitations not previously upon Him. This way, any accusation that He does not understand what it is like for us are not valid. He has experienced the difficulties, but was not prone to, nor was He given to sin. His Father was God, so He did not have the fallen human nature we are born with.

 

[RickG]

Concerning the 40 days of Jesus' fasting, an interesting aspect comes to mind. Jesus died on the cross, therefore he was, during his time on earth, mortal. No human can possibly withhold food and water for that period of time and still be alive. So the question is, how does he survive that but not crucifixion?

 

[Avid]

Well, he advised that if you wanted to be one of his followers you should first sell all you have and give it to the poor. And if you would argue that would pose a hardship for your family he would tell you that if you loved your family more than you loved him, that you were not worthy of him...

This is incorrect. He told one man that. You may wish to explore the scriptures to show evidence of this claim.

Since the first statement was incorrect, the extension to this other point is incorrect. Maybe you could search and study enough to make your point with the accuracy of the scriptures that are the supposed source for the opinion.

Thanks.

I believe that it is also said that he refrained from public prayer...

That is likely based on some scripture. Maybe you could tell us which passage from the Bible said that.