The Preaching Python
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Written: 10/31/2005 
Author: Donald Frazier
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Golden Nuggets
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Gold Nuggets from the Greek
There are great insights to be derived from the study of the Greek New Testament. Each month I will endeavor to share a nugget of truth from the Book of Truth, God's Eternal Word.
These will be concise and should not intrude into your time or opportunity to explore the richness of the vein from which they were extracted. That is for you and the Holy Spirit to excavate together. These nuggets are just to let you know where to begin the digging, if you so desire. The Spirit will guide you in how deep to dig. The Greek will be presented in a way that is easy to understand (transliterated) and easy to verify ("SC" refers to Strong's Concordance). With a little help you can check the assayers report for yourself. So, pull out this shiny, new nugget and see where it leads you.
The Preaching Python
Snakes! Just the word can strike fear in the heart of even the bravest. Nearly everyone has heard a snake story at some time. Snake stories always seem to have a bad ending. One of my life's main goals is to insure that my name and the word "snake" never occur in the same sentence.
You would think that people would be especially leery of snakes that talk. History reveals they have nothing constructive to say. They have no credibility and their motives are always suspect.
Eve was an eye and ear witness to the persuasive power of a serpent's slick line. If given the time, snakes have been very convincing. Considering the fall-out from her tree-side chat you would think that everyone would see a red flag when the snake begins to talk. But time and tolerance have dulled our responses and desensitized our "snake alarms."
Acts 16:17 records an event that has "reptile" written all over it. It occurred during the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Satan pulled the old snake routine out of mothballs and found another unsuspecting audience to address. This story tells us about a young girl who was possessed with a spirit of "divination" (python, SC 4436). And, if you know anything about biblical snakes, you know they won't behave and they can't keep their mouth shut.
The spirit was "soothsaying" (manteuomene, SC 3132) or literally "ranting and raving with fury" while delivering its message through this young girl. She was a little "cash cow" who was bringing a fortune to her masters while spreading an inaccurate message about Paul and his associates. On the surface the message seems correct, albeit not divinely inspired. Let's go see what the Greek has to say about the subject.
The core of her message and the exposure of the error centers on the serpent's subtle avoidance of the Definite Article. This little powerhouse in Greek grammar is the word "the" and its function is to establish "singularity uniqueness, exclusiveness or specificity to the subject." Her message, in literal Greek, stated that Paul, Silas and Luke were showing the people of Macedonia "a way" of salvation. That little heresy should get your attention!
When you do not use the Definite Article in Greek, the rules of grammar require you to translate it as an indefinite Article. This creates the assumption that there is more than one way to be saved. This is the same old devil telling the same old lie! He has always fought the message that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to be saved. It is Christ's blood and only His blood that redeems fallen man. There is no other name given among men that will save us.
What a world of difference the lack of the Definite Article makes in her announcement! Satan does not mind the world hearing that there is a way of salvation. He just doesn't want them to hear about "the way" of salvation. This obvious error in content, coupled with the fact that Christ never allowed demons to testify of His Deity, is why Paul so forcefully stopped the spirit of Python from preaching. The serpent was wrong once more.
As the old adage might go, "How can you tell if a snake is lying? If his lips are moving."
Happy digging!
Dr. Donald M. Frazier
Katy, TX
http://www.donfrazier.com
Reader Comments
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Dr. Frazier is a brilliant scholar! To be able to listen to him or to read his writing is such a privilege. I'm so happy that he is going to be writing for this site. Just wish I could have been there to hear him play and sing.
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Dr. Frazier,
Your writings are such a blessing to me. I hope you'll continue on a frequent and regular basis.
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