Many thanked me at the end. But I thought what I shared before the start of the second session meant more to them than all my knowledge of Greek, limited as it is. I shared with them about Joseph's two sons and the significance of their names. After pain and toil which God allowed Joseph to go through and overcome (Manasseh in Hebrew, "causing to forget"), he had Ephraim which means "fruitfulness". So I told my class that it is after much pain and toil, we will learn Greek but after a while comes the time to bear fruits when we begin to mine the NT in the original language. I also read out Lev 19:23 about how a tree will only bear fruits that can be eaten after 3 years and it is only in the fifth year that fruits of the tree will increase and multiply. I shared my experience of how the Lord led me to accept my PhD scholarship (I almost turned it down and applied for a downgrade to a 1-year MTh), the Lord telling me that I needed more than 1 year to learn about the book of Revelation.
Theological education cannot be rushed. It's not about getting top grades. It's not about writing essays and meeting deadlines. It's not about getting the degree that sets one on the path to ordination. It is about learning God's Word, knowing the truth through careful interpretation of the biblical text and applying Scripture in our lives before teaching it to others and seeing lives transformed to Christ-likeness for the glory of God.
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