Joh 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Joh 1:46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
Joh 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Joh 1:48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Joh 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
Joh 1:50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
Joh 1:51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
What an honor for Nathanael to have the Lord to say, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Just what is guile? The word for guile comes from the word decoy. Other translations for guile are subtilty (2x), deceit (2x), craft (1x). These meanings are associated with the devil, he is deceitful, subtle and crafty. Most of the Scribes and Pharisees had guille, appearing to be something they were not, they were hypocrites. Hunters put duck decoys in the lake to lure down ducks to be killed by their rifle bullets. How many times in our lives have we been lured by false words, by decoys?
Although perhaps from past experience Nathanael did not think that Nazarenes were trustworthy, he did trust Jesus the Nazarene. Nathanael immediately believed that Jesus was and is the Son of God and the King of Israel and he was chosen as one of the twelve disciples.
Psa 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
No comments:
Post a Comment