M't:24:10: And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
It seems as if we have diluted the potency of the word offended and its meaning in these days. So many feel offended at this or that …..
But when you look at the core of it meaning, it brings a whole new understanding to the implications of the word and the results of being “offended “ as it is used in this statement by Jesus.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary- online
Main Entry: of·fend
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French offendre, from Latin offendere to strike against, offend, from ob- against + -fendere to strike — more at ob-, defend
Date: 14th century
intransitive verb
1 a : to transgress the moral or divine law : sinb : to violate a law or rule : do wrong
2 a : to cause difficulty, discomfort, or injury
b : to cause dislike, anger, or vexationtransitive verb
1 a : violate, transgress b : to cause pain to : hurt2 obsolete : to cause to sin or fall3 : to cause to feel vexation or resentment usually by violation of what is proper or fitting
Strong's G4624 - skandalizō = Offended
Outline of Biblical Usage
1) to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaph. to offend
a) to entice to sin
b) to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey
1) to cause to fall away
2) to be offended in one, i.e. to see in another what I disapprove of and what hinders me from acknowledging his authority
3) to cause one to judge unfavourably or unjustly of another
c) since one who stumbles or whose foot gets entangled feels annoyed
1) to cause one displeasure at a thing
2) to make indignant
3) to be displeased, indignant
Is the “Many” Jesus is talking about in this particular passage believers??
Are they brothers and sisters in Christ? It would appear to be……To be offended is to in part “ Fall Away” ……………….
M't:11:6: And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
M't:13:21: Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
M't:13:57: And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
M't:26:31: Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
M't:26:33: Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
M'r:4:17: And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
Lu:7:23: And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Joh:16:1: These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
Jesus clearly tells us that affliction and persecution for the Word’s sake
will continue to increase until His return and that MANY will be offended , will fall away, will betray and will hate one another.
Lord guard my heart and mind against offence. Help us to stay close to the Lord Jesus, that we will stay in His Word, be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and Pray for understanding and discernment ………
Lord help me to keep a close check on my thoughts , my words and my attitudes.
Lord, help me not to give the enemy a foothold to cause you to become offended.
Heb:12:15: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
1Th:5:24: Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
1Co:2:5: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Ga:5:1: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Ph'p:1:27: Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Ph'p:4:1: Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
It seems as if we have diluted the potency of the word offended and its meaning in these days. So many feel offended at this or that …..
But when you look at the core of it meaning, it brings a whole new understanding to the implications of the word and the results of being “offended “ as it is used in this statement by Jesus.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary- online
Main Entry: of·fend
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French offendre, from Latin offendere to strike against, offend, from ob- against + -fendere to strike — more at ob-, defend
Date: 14th century
intransitive verb
1 a : to transgress the moral or divine law : sin
2 a : to cause difficulty, discomfort, or injury
b : to cause dislike, anger, or vexation
1 a : violate, transgress b : to cause pain to : hurt2 obsolete : to cause to sin or fall3 : to cause to feel vexation or resentment usually by violation of what is proper or fitting
Strong's G4624 - skandalizō = Offended
Outline of Biblical Usage
1) to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaph. to offend
a) to entice to sin
b) to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey
1) to cause to fall away
2) to be offended in one, i.e. to see in another what I disapprove of and what hinders me from acknowledging his authority
3) to cause one to judge unfavourably or unjustly of another
c) since one who stumbles or whose foot gets entangled feels annoyed
1) to cause one displeasure at a thing
2) to make indignant
3) to be displeased, indignant
Is the “Many” Jesus is talking about in this particular passage believers??
Are they brothers and sisters in Christ? It would appear to be……To be offended is to in part “ Fall Away” ……………….
M't:11:6: And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
M't:13:21: Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
M't:13:57: And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
M't:26:31: Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
M't:26:33: Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
M'r:4:17: And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
Lu:7:23: And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Joh:16:1: These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
Jesus clearly tells us that affliction and persecution for the Word’s sake
will continue to increase until His return and that MANY will be offended , will fall away, will betray and will hate one another.
Lord guard my heart and mind against offence. Help us to stay close to the Lord Jesus, that we will stay in His Word, be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and Pray for understanding and discernment ………
Lord help me to keep a close check on my thoughts , my words and my attitudes.
Lord, help me not to give the enemy a foothold to cause you to become offended.
Heb:12:15: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
1Th:5:24: Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
1Co:2:5: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Ga:5:1: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Ph'p:1:27: Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Ph'p:4:1: Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
Psalms:37:18: The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
Love in Christ, Ella
19 comments:
Focusing on the LORD,
andrea
I know in the past, there were times that something didn't happen like I thought that it should that I would be offended by God. It sounds terrible, but I think that happens to a lot of people that just won't admit it. Instead of trusting God to show us His continued plan, we get mad and huff and puff. When we don't want to examine ourselves or change, it's easy to blame someone else, or just turn away from God. God's Word and Jesus are the "plumb line" and obedience to the Word is a continual process. Great post, Ella.
Debra
Thank you so much for bringing God's Word before us in this very clear, but prayerful way. How we need to pray, 'Lord, keep me close to Thee, in this world.'
Best wishes
Christine
Andrea~~
Signs in the sand....
Blessings, GG
Debra ~~
Great observation...I personally did not recognize the depth of the meaning of "offended" until I did a recent study on the word .
Affliction and persecution set the stage for becoming offended in the last days.
Blessings, Ella
Christine ~~
Thank you for always stopping by especially on Fridays to comment
on these prophecy posts.
God's Blessings on you dear!
Hugs, Ella
Wow. What a great defining of the word "offend". That brings an entire new light to it - doesn't it?
An 'offense' (Scripturally speaking) means more than to just be saddened or irritated with someone who's come against us. It means to literally betray and hate and cause to stumble and to entice someone else to sin.
Hmmmm.... I believe I will have to rethink how I've been using that word.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on this.
I have never been offended away from God - but sadly there are times I'm offended away from some who say they serve Him (if that makes sense).
Ohhh... May God guard all of our hearts.
Deb~~
There is a great weightiness ot the meaning....I astonished at he depth of the root of it. It follows right along with the "Great Falling Away" .....
Blessings, Ella.
I love your teaching. This was great!
Thank You Beth~~
People use that word so casually that the full impact of the intention is lost in the use.
Jesus said MANY would become offended, and betray one another and hate one another....
Sadly I am seeing these very behaviors happening with more rapidity.....
Thank you for commenting Beth!
Blessings, Ella
I, too, didn't realize the root of 'offend' and will definitely have to rethink my usage of the word.
I've fallen away from God in the past ~ and experienced an unexplainable void. I never want to feel that void or loneliness again...ever.
Thank you so much for this, Ella.
Ella, I tell you, just reading that definition makes one know we aren't as self assured as we like to think we are at least not according to God. Talk about needing to really dig into the Word and focus, really focus on what God says we need to do. Great post!
Farmer J ~~
Hugs Sweetie. It is good for us to encourage each other in the Faith.
Heb:3:13: But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Blessings, GG
Rose ~~
It is like digging for great tresure ......May the Lord take us out into the deep water. That we would be grown enough to stop splashing at the shore-line.........Thank you for your comments Rose.
Blessings, Ella
I never thought about offended this way ~ thank you for sharing this very powerful, thought provoking message. I'm looking forward to digging into this more.
Thanks for coming by Marie ~~ What a season we are living in .
Blessings,Ella
Wow! How casually that word is used in today's language. Thanks for digging deeper and pointing this out.
And you are so correct, time is drawing short.
Donna ~~
Wow we are nearing the return of our Lord!
Hugs, Ella
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