An Eastern Perspective On The Word

By Charles Busby

The Holy Bible was written by the Holy Spirit via the hands of ancient Middle-Eastern men. The accounts and events that are recorded in the holy book are thru the eyes and life experiences of each of those writers. The laws, traditions, manners, and customs of the time where each writer lived had a very great and significant impact upon the images and message that each writer intended to communicate, convey, and express in their writings. These recorded persons, events, and matters were profoundly impacted by the culture, laws, manners, and customs of the people being written about and the men God used to record them. Therefore, putting these matters into proper context is the first priority of any Bible teacher. Each biblical writer assumed that all future readers of their words would understand their writings through the same cultural lens that they experienced them. Thus they would record each event and the person spoken about per their particular cultural standpoint. However, Christianity is currently preached and taught primarily from a Western perspective. Western men and women do not understand or practice the same laws, manners, or exercise the same customs as those practiced by any of the Middle-Eastern persons that the Lord used to record his word. Most of today's Christians have little knowledge of these cultural differences. Therefore, the persons and events recorded in our Holy Bible are frequently misunderstood and misrepresented. Please allow me to use an example to make my point. The famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci named The Lord's Supper is one of the world's most famous and recognized paintings. The Lord's Supper is depicted by da Vinci as thirteen men (the Lord Jesus and his twelve disciples) around a long table. I believe that a copy of this painting probably hangs in more homes than any other picture ever painted. However, a Bible School student that has taken Biblical Manners and Customs will tell you that these people during this time and in that culture always took their meals while sitting on cushions, pallets, or mats upon the floor. The participants to the meals would gather in a circle so as to be able to face each other. The bread, meat, and other food items would be placed in the middle of those dining so that all could reach into the bowls and dip their bread or sop out of the bowls. Leonardo da Vinci was not aware of the difference in dining customs. Therefore, it is very understandable why he portrayed the event of the Lord taking that meal while sitting at a table. That was the way that his culture took its meals. However, da Vinci was still wrong and did not correctly represent or depict what the event actually looked like. Does this make him bad or evil? No, of course not! But he misrepresented the event and how the meal was actually observed by the Savior. There is only one goal in writing this book. It is to observe 2 Timothy 2:15. It is imperative that I provide the accurate image and the correct message in the context intended by the original writer. Their texts eventually became part of our Holy Bible. Each subject and event discussed in this book is presented and explained per a perspective that is predicated and based upon the manners and customs of the culture practiced where each of the subjects and events took place. The correct interpretation of the customs during those periods of time in the Middle East is what is needed to understand and correctly divide those matters in the Word of God. Many of these presentations will vary from what western Christians have come to believe, think, and teach about many of the persons used and dealt with by God.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781641404112

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An Eastern Perspective On The Word

Charles J. Busby

Copyright © 2018 Charles J. Busby

All rights reserved

First Edition

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc

New York, NY

First originally published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc 2018

ISBN 978-1-64140-410-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64140-411-2 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

The Woman at the Well (John Chapter 4)

The woman at the well in John chapter four (4) is one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented persons of the entire Bible. This lady was a not a person of ill repute or of low moral character! However, this woman is one of the most sad, broken, and tragic figures mentioned in the Bible.

Those that will disagree with me need to seriously study the manners, customs, and culture of the men in Samaria and in this part of the Middle East during this particular time. A married woman caught in adultery or being unfaithful to her husband would almost always have been stoned to death. It is understandable to think that perhaps one of the five husbands would have simply divorced her. However, the possibility that five would only divorce and not stone her to death for infidelity is too extreme to be rational to consider.

Jesus addressed divorce in Matthew 5:32. Please note that Jesus instructed his audience that the only acceptable reason to divorce was because of an unfaithful spouse. These particular people were divorcing their wives for multiple reasons. Per this scripture, God does not recognize or accept the termination of a marriage for any other reason. God does not require any person to remain married to any unfaithful spouse. Also, please understand that Jesus did not provide stoning as a means to terminate a marriage either. I am sure that an argument will be made for abuse. I would never encourage anyone to remain with an abusing spouse. However, per Matthew chapter 5, a person can’t remarry for any other reason without being considered in adultery.

These Middle-Eastern men were very proud. Each one of them would almost certainly have reacted with anger and vengeance against any wife caught with another man. At that time, any woman that had such a reputation would never again have been considered to be a legal spouse by any man from this culture. Marrying a woman with a questionable past or virtues would have brought shame and dishonor to the man and his family.

That leaves us with a question. What was the reason that this woman was divorced by all of five husbands? The answer is obvious. She was barren and childless. We can only speculate as to if she had ever given birth, had miscarriages, or if any child born to her had died at infancy. However, the most important thing to a Middle-Eastern man during this time was to father an heir. Any man that had no son was thought to have been cursed or be in disfavor with God. Any woman that did not provide children to her husband was considered cursed. This particular woman was obviously a very desirable woman to look upon. Also most men during this time and in this area were monogamous. It was not by choice but by necessity due to financial considerations. These men seldom could afford to support two wives. This woman’s first husband was probably married to her the longest. But he eventually decided that he needed to have another wife if he were to have children. These men seldom blamed themselves. They almost always assumed that it was the woman that has being stricken or cursed. Please remember that when this woman left the presence of Jesus, she went to the men of the city to share the great news of her meeting Jesus (John 4:28–29). Is it not reasonable to believe that the first person that she would want to share this great news with would have been the person(s) that were most important to her? If she had any children or loved ones in her house, she would have immediately gone to them! Obviously, they did not exist.

The men of the city that are spoken of in these verses refer to the elders of the city. These particular men would sit at the main gate and conduct the civil business (including legal matters) of the city. When a man divorced a wife, he would have to take the woman to these men. There he would proclaim, I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you. Then a letter of divorce would be given to the woman in front of these elders to witness its receipt. This letter would state that the woman was free of him as her husband. He would then take off one shoe and throw it at her feet. This was an act to publicly demonstrate contempt for the woman being divorced. That action would be the most humiliating part of the divorce. The only items that a woman could take with her to the divorce would be the clothes that she had on. The clothing that she would wear to this civil action most likely had sewn into the hem or lining (if any) a dowry that she had taken into the marriage. It would be in the form