OD6

For the past several days, we have been looking at Ephesians 1:4 as a means of seeing what observations we can come up with.  While we have made quite a few and have at least a couple of more days left, we have just scratched the surface.  One of Prof Hendricks’ favorite assignments in the introductory Bible study class at Dallas Seminary was to repeatedly assign students 50 observations on Acts 1:8.  When I left the seminary the record was over 650 observations.  This verse is no different.  The depth of the Word is immeasurable.

The next phrase in our journey through this verse is, “before Him.”  Typically, and for an obvious reason – few if any attending have studied the language, I avoid Greek our workshops on Bible study, with one exception.  In this case Greek unpacks for us a rich vein of inquiry concerning the word translated “before,” in Ephesians 1:4.  It turns out that particular word, katenopion (κατενώπιον), only occurs in two other New Testament verses:

• Colossians 1:22
• Jude 24

Take a minute and read those passages.  What did you notice?  Highlight the space below to see what I saw... (Click and hold your mouse here and drag down to the list below.)

In all three passages “before” (katenopion) is connected to the idea of our standing before God blameless.  The implications here are many.  Spend some time meditating on these three passages.  It will be worth any time you invest in the process.

The posts in this series:

• Observation Demo
• Observation Demo 2
• Observation Demo 3 (OD3)
• OD4
• OD5