1 Thessalonians 4:5
5 Not [me] in [en] the lust [pathos] of
concupiscence, [epithumia] even [kai] as [kathaper] the Gentiles [ethnos] which [ho] know [eido] not [me] God: [theos] KJV-Interlinear
5 not in lustful passion, like
the Gentiles who do not know God; NASB
Typically the term,
Gentile, is used to refer to people who are not Jewish, or to people who are
not believers.It is used as a synonym
for unbelievers.
The term, Gentile, is
used to categorize all people into two groups.
Namely those who are Jewish and those who are not
Jewish.
But in order to fully
understand the term, we have to go back a little further in history, back to
Abraham.
After the flood of
Noah, this was a time known as the period of the Patriarchs. Simply stated, the patriarch was the man who
was the head of the family, or tribe, or group.
Among his duties, was
to forward the scripture of instruction from his fathers, down to his children.
He was the pastor, the priest, the teacher, the chief person for administering
the sacred sacrifices, as well as the head of the household. The book of Job gives us an in depth insight
of this principle.
However, after Noahs time, the world again turned against God and
attempted to construct the Tower of Babel.
It failed of course, because all of mans plans fail. But the world was turned around spiritually and
had gone negative toward God.
Along comes Abram, who
believed in God, had his name changed to Abraham, and followed Gods instructions. Abraham crossed out of the Arabia region and
into the region then called Canaan.A
region named after the people who lived there, the descendants of Ham, and
against whom the curse of Ham was issued.
With this crossing
over, Abraham became known as a Hebrew, or one who has crossed over. In this case the spiritual connotation is the
crossing over from unbelief into faith.And
thus a new species (believers) was formally represented by this change.
Hebrew simply means one
who has crossed over from unbelief into belief.
Abraham had descendants
Isaac, and Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacobs name was changed to Israel. And he had twelve sons, which became known as
the sons of Israel.And these sons developed
into a nation called by that name as well, Israel. This represents the compilation and ongoing
formation of the nation of believers in the Savior, the Messiah, who we call
today, Jesus Christ.
Israel was a spiritual term
used to distinguish those who were believers, out from those who were not
(gentiles).Of course it is also the
temporal term to describe the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, etc.
Hundreds of years
passed and after Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into the Northern
Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom.The
Northern Kingdom adopted the name of Israel and later Samaria. The Southern Kingdom adopted the name of Judah,
and later became known as Judea.The
residents of Judah or Judea became known as Jews.
The residents of Judea
adopted the Mosaic Laws and continued the Levitical Priesthood, and along with its
rules and regulations developed their religion known as Judaism. This was a formal separation away from the true
scriptural teaching of Jesus Christ, and an adoption of religious works looking
for a savior of their own choosing, rather than of Gods choosing.
So, the lustful passion
of the gentiles, is the same as the works of the sin
nature.It is absent truth, and pro
human viewpoint.It follows the pattern
of life represented by the rejection of God, of Christ, of doctrine, and of the
spiritual life.
Unbelievers follow this
pattern by default.They have no other
choice.
Believers who are
negative toward God and doctrine, etc. are said to imitate the unbelievers in
their lifestyle and thought patterns. Even though saved, they still act and
behave as the unbelievers do.
And Gods command is for
you to not act as the gentiles, but act as you are expected to act, by honoring
the sanctification (setting apart from the world), which God provided for you,
by means of living if fellowship, by means of studying daily, your scriptures,
and utilizing what you learn in your daily life, and advancing in your
spiritual life, so that you will be completed, established, prepared for the
next increment of your life, namely standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ.
That is where you will
ultimately stand one day.And there is
no uncertainty regarding that.So this
life is one of preparation and readiness for that next great event of your
life.
This life is your
training period.Your physical death is simply
the termination of your training period.
Your evaluation before Christ is your next great and most important
event of your life.
Therefore, you are to
follow the pattern of faith, and not the pattern of the sin nature.
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