In
my previous post, “God
Will BE All in All”, I talked about those people, the nations,
living outside the new Holy city, Jerusalem. One of the groups are
called “dogs”. I didn't know if this was a group of people or a
reference to the actual animal, dog. Here is what I've found in my
studies:
To
an Israelite, dogs were not well loved and they were associated with
evil and low status and unclean. In Jesus' time and before, the
gentiles (non-Israelite) were called or referenced as dogs by the
Jews.
11-3-15 - I am a gentile and knowing that I may be considered or called a dog by anyone, be it Jew or Muslim or anyone does not bother me. I am in God's eyes perfectly judged. I trust Him in His thoughts of me. I hope I have not built up more animosity towards the Jews by what I've said here. It is not my intention to do so. I only want to shed light on the "dogs" reference in Revelation.
11-3-15 - I am a gentile and knowing that I may be considered or called a dog by anyone, be it Jew or Muslim or anyone does not bother me. I am in God's eyes perfectly judged. I trust Him in His thoughts of me. I hope I have not built up more animosity towards the Jews by what I've said here. It is not my intention to do so. I only want to shed light on the "dogs" reference in Revelation.
I
found the reference in the Bible where I remembered Jesus appearing
to call a women a dog. She was not a Samaritan as I thought but
worse, she was a gentile (heathen, pagan, infidel, non-religious
person). There are two gospels that tells the story;
Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark
7:24-30. There has been much discussion about this. Was Jesus
insulting this woman or was it something else? I think something
else.
I
had to consider both scriptures to build a better picture as to what
was going on here. Mark says that Jesus went to Tyre to try and get
away from the crowds that were constantly following Him everywhere He
went; He needed some quiet time. He enters a house and didn't want
anyone to know about it but His presence leaked out to the people
there. Tyre was in gentile territory. A woman who was a Greek, born a
Syrophoenician, found out He was there and she goes to Him and keeps
begging Him to cast a demon out of her daughter. She had many things
going against her when she came to Jesus; she was a woman, a gentile,
and Jesus was trying to escape the crowds, it seems He was in no mood
to deal with her at that time. Jesus at first just ignores her; the
disciples even tried to get Jesus to send her away but she was very
persistent. Here is their conversation when Jesus finally
acknowledges her, according to Matthew:
Matthew 15:24-28 Common English Bible (CEB)
28 Jesus
answered, “Woman, you have great faith. It will be just as you
wish.” And right then her daughter was healed.
|
When
I studied these passages in my “Ultimate Bible Study Suite”, I
found that the Greek word that is translated as “dog” is actually
a puppy dog, not an adult dog. When I take this into consideration, I
see a type of loving exchange of words going on here between an
Israelite and a Gentile. The woman knew her place as to this Hebrew
man she was talking to. Jesus, referring to her as a puppy dog I
think softened something that normally would have sounded harsh. I
think she picked up on this which relaxed her to talk more freely
with Him. She responded very well and Jesus granted her wish for
healing of her daughter.
Now
back to the dog referenced in Revelation 22:15, those outside the new
Holy city, Jerusalem.
Revelation 22:15 Common English Bible (CEB)15 Outside are the dogs, the drug users and spell-casters, those who commit sexual immorality, the murderers, the idolaters, and all who love and practice deception. |
Some Bible translations separate “dogs” and what follows with an “and” but some seem to imply those that follow are dogs. When I think about the writer of “Revelation” being a Hebrew, then dogs may very well have been a reference to gentiles.
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