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Bible Study 1 Timothy

1 Timothy | Chapter 4

Chapter 4 moves away from what things should be back to where there is trouble (false teaching) and how to combat it. When Paul says, “…the Spirit expressly says…” we have to take his word on it, there isn’t a Bible referent that validates it directly. (Not a big deal, could’ve been revealed to him at some point. However, it does bring up an interesting conversation around personal revelation outside of Scripture that is still valuable to the Kingdom folk at large. Another day.)

The concern is around folks who stop following Jesus and instead “…devote themselves to deceitful spirits and teaching of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” Man, that’s a long sentence. Couple things. First, this is obviously happening during Timothy’s time, one of his primary calls is to combat it. So, when Paul writes “…in later times…”, we can’t pull that out of his time period and say that it is a prophecy of what will happen sometime in the future. No, the “later times” or “last days” in the New Testament generally refer to the time between Jesus’ ascension and his second coming. They are the “last days” in that, once Jesus returns, there simply won’t be any more days (no reason to count, eternity is at hand!)

That said, the second point is obviously that we share the “later days” with Timothy as this sounds very much like our modern situation. (For those who think things are getting progressively worse societally, I’d note that there is nothing new under the sun, people have been bankrupt and debased and trying to take governments and institutions with them forever. If you don’t believe that, I have a tower in Babel I’d like to sell you.) An acute risk in our day, with the wide proliferation of media and accessibility to a diversity of thought, is the confusion that can come with it. It is easy to make things sound like Jesus may have said them, or pull them out of context and create a movement with it, or take a Biblical idea and bend it, twist it, generalize it until it’s not recognizable and then tag it as if it originated from the throne of Jesus. I’m willing to run down any rabbit hole that is trying to rightly understand the Word we have been given to ensure that I don’t miss what Jesus is really after because of some inherent bias or cultural assumption or trust in some slick willy interpretation. But I won’t ever accept Bible-lite or some lame philosophy that smells a little like Scripture but also smells like profit and vibes and cultural-personality horseradish.

Also, don’t reject good things God has given you. (I’m looking at you, Daniel fast.)

Paul instructs Timothy to take these truths and share them with the brothers. Don’t chase myths and help others to stop chasing them (I had a wingding of a conversation this week with a dude trying to find end-times significance in some constellation formation in September this year. 20 texts in and I’m not sure we made much progress. It’s the work, though.) There’s also a call to “train yourself” for godliness (which I apparently double-underlined at some point in the past. I’m assuming it was an excuse to not also take care of my body.) Paul says that there is some value in taking care of your body, but there is all-value in training yourself spiritually (that does work in this life and the next. Your beach bod only has value in this life. Stay healthy, Adonis, just keep it in the right balance/priority with spiritual training.) How do we do that? We’re doing it now. (Unless you’re not keeping up with the reading, in which case you’re not doing it. Pull it together.)

Paul then says something that causes people to write books and set up blogs and ignore the rest of Scripture: “…we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially those who believe.” Yay! Everyone is saved, even if they turn their backs on Jesus and do whatever they want because the living God is the Savior of all people! Can’t be right. If this were true, and we’ll ignore for the moment Jesus saying things like narrow gate and repeated descriptions of eternal separation, then Paul’s instructions to Timothy IN THIS CHAPTER ALONE make no sense. Why protect right doctrine and avoid myths if it doesn’t matter at all?

There are a number of options here, I think Occam’s Razor applies (the simplest is the most likely explanation). The confusion hinges on the word “especially”, which is interpreted in slightly different ways throughout the Bible. In some cases it is a further distinction (“all the saints salute you, specifically those within Caesar’s household”, Philippians 4:22) and in some cases an exact distinction (“Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write”, Acts 25:26.) In this Timothy instance, I think it’s the second option. “…we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, specifically those who believe.” He died to save the world, the ones who are saved are those who have faith in Him, believing that they needed it and that He did it.

The chapter finishes with Paul encouraging Timothy to not be dissuaded from his work and to live as an example to everyone around him. To hit one of Paul’s previous points, youth is not an issue, but maturity is. Don’t put yourself in a position you know you’re not mature enough to have. Pastoral work is an older fellas game for a reason (I reflect upon my own situation cautiously in this regard as well.) That said, where God has gifted and sent you, let no “normal” barriers contain you. Wisdom is being mindful of cautions but unafraid when the boundary of caution is to be crossed. For Timothy, he is to devote himself to the work, teaching, reading Scripture, and demonstrating his progress to those around him (I’d generally assume through his teaching but could be otherwise I guess). By persisting, committing to his calling, it has an impact on him and the people around him.

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Bible Study 2 Timothy

2 Timothy | Chapter 1

Paul opens as he always does with an identification of who he is, who he is writing to, and the offering of some combination of grace, peace and mercy. His inclusion of “…the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus…” is interesting given his current situation of imprisonment and anticipation of execution (which will indeed soon happen). Also note his description of Timothy as his “beloved child”. This has to be a difficult letter for Paul to write. Yes, he has been in tough spots before, but seems to recognize through this letter that this particular situation will end in his death. His role now is to lead Timothy to continue the work he can no longer do.

And Timothy is not just a dude he met along the journey. Paul prays all the time for him, remembering his mother and grandmother by name and the faith that they had. In light of this lineage, Paul reminds Timothy to “…fan into flame the gift of God…”. There is no restraint here. Timothy comes from a faithful family and has been taught by a faithful man who encountered the risen Jesus himself. God has given Timothy the skills and means to change the world with Good News, Paul says pour gas on that beast, carry the light boldly, with love and no fear. (Don’t miss the personal application here both as a child of God and, if it is your situation, as a parent yourself. Whatever way God has gifted you to change the world with His Good News, live it out and pass it on.)

Paul continues, ever willing to have people imitate him as he imitates Christ. He tells Timothy to not only not be ashamed of Paul’s situation, but share in it (not for the sake of being in the straights, it’s gospel work.) Keep this paragraph in context, “…his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus…”. The focus of this isn’t Paul and Timothy, it’s Jesus. Jesus was the purpose and grace that was planned since the beginning that ultimately manifested itself through his life, death, resurrection and ascension. Paul and Timothy’s work, as ours is, is to proclaim this reality. Jesus abolished death (we need say cool things like this more often); he brought life and immortality to light (something Paul might have had on his mind given his situation.)

But as can be expected, Paul is resolute. He is not ashamed of his position, he has been faithful in the means and trusts that God will appropriately handle the ends, guarding the reward that is due those who serve righteously in the Kingdom. And, he encourages Timothy to do the same. Again, the legacy Paul leaves is one we are called to as well. Who are you taking with you as you follow Jesus? Who can you encourage and say, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in faith and love that are in Christ Jesus”? Gotta do it, fellas. Paul isn’t in prison for loving Jesus, he’s in prison for trying to make disciples.

And the consequences of doing so are sometimes too much for others to take. Sounds like the folk in Asia abandoned Paul in his needs upon his imprisonment, especially a couple cats with long names. Hermogenes sounds like doofus anyway. But not everyone cut him loose, Onesiphorus seems like a good dude, not only unashamed of Paul but seeking him out to visit. Man, visiting folks in prison has been on my mind quite a bit lately, gotta figure that out.

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Bible Study 1 Peter

1 Peter | Chapter 1

This letter is from Peter, a “sent one” of Jesus Christ. He’s writing to the elect exiles in various places of Asia Minor. Not to wade too far into what is an often contentious discussion, but the word “elect” here is linked to the items that follow, “…according to…” So, these folks are identified as “chosen” or “elect” based upon 1.) the foreknowledge of God, 2.) evidence of the work of the Spirit, 3.) their obedience to Jesus and 4.) because of what Jesus did on the cross. There is still a response, an obedience in here (as opposed to a blanket “God chose you and that’s it” type of thing) and this will generally drive the context as we continue to see language like this from Peter going forward.

Peter’s encouragement starting in v.3 is the assurance of not only what has been graciously given to these folks but of the fact that what awaits them is protected. Don’t read too quickly over “living hope” as it rightly casts the impact of how the promises of the future inform how we live today. We are a hopeful people, a joyful people, because we live in our current state full of anticipation of what is yet to come. If you’re missing this in your life, it may be because you’re missing a long-term view on not only what is yet to come but also how what you do today points to that and shares it with others.

This inheritance is imperishable, undefiled and unfading and they are being guarded as they wait by God’s power, even as they see persecution and trials currently. What feels odd here is the element of “testing” that Peter describes in this section. I think the right way to look at it is being able to see how God’s power has given you the ability to persevere through various circumstances, which actually results in your faith being emboldened because the genuineness of your faith is revealed to you through the trial. Refinement is good. Sometimes it seems corny when people talk about God putting them through a refining process, and it comes off that way because it implies God is doing something specifically that is more likely to be just a circumstance of the world. However, the concept is still good. We praise God when we find ourselves being sifted or tested because we know it produces stronger faith on the other side (or reveals no faith at all. Might as well deal with reality either way).

And this faith, worth more than the most refined gold, results in praise and glory and honor when Jesus is finally revealed forever. And this faith is all the more beautiful because these folks, like us, and unlike Peter, have never seen Jesus, yet they love him and believe in him and rejoice at what he has done. And like us, they obtain the outcome of that faith, that trust, and that’s the eternal reward and rest for our souls.

The anecdote about salvation is an interesting one, especially concerning Peter’s most likely Gentile audience here. He says that the prophets, whom the Holy Spirit worked through to proclaim that these things of Jesus would come to pass some day, were knowingly working in the service of those who get to experience the world post-Jesus. And the things these dispersed Christians now know are things the angels have longed to know. Nothing theologically huge here, just kind of an interesting perspective.

Peter ends the chapter talking about the right reaction today based upon what they know is ahead. Basically, in light of the promise, how then shall we live? Well, they keep calm, remain hopeful, and walk righteously by being obedient to Jesus and not falling back into old habits (like people who have no hope and don’t know any better. That’s not them and it’s not you either.) God is set apart from the world and he asks His people to be that same way as well. Once you proclaim your fealty to Jesus, you’re a citizen of His Kingdom which means your citizenship doesn’t belong to this earthly world and your behavior shouldn’t reflect it either. Live like a Kingdom citizen (see Matthew 5-7 for a quick reminder).

And as you call upon God as your Father (which indeed He is), stay consistent with the identity of people who are permitted to do such a thing. Basically, your relationship with God should be consistent. If you’re going to call Him Father, obey Him like one, don’t go back to your old ways acting as if your brother Jesus didn’t pay a huge ransom for your return to the family. Stay reverent, hopeful, obedient; it’s how you shall live as you wait to live forever.

The chapter ends with a note to remain steadfast (same theme), be confident in the good news you have heard and to love one another purely. Peter continues to intertwine forever promises of God with what that means for your day to day earthly living. It’s not just a “hey, you should consider doing x, y an z while you wait to go to heaven” Instead it’s, “Because heaven awaits you. live like this right now!”

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Bible Study Jonah

Jonah | Chapter 1

The opening cuts to the quick. The word of the Lord comes to Jonah (in some way or another) instructing him to head to Nineveh and call out their evil because God has caught wind of it (as He tends to do). Nineveh is in the heart of Assyria, and although they are weakened at the moment, it’s not an intriguing proposition to be sent to in effect “serve” the city by warning them on God’s behalf. So, Jonah decides to haul tail the other way.

God tells him to “arise” and do what he’s told to do (kind of the prophet’s job) and Jonah instead decides to rise and go to the port city of Joppa so he can catch a skiff heading due west, the opposite direction of Nineveh which lies to the north and east. This man, who supernaturally received the word of the Lord appears foolish enough to think he will physically flee from the “presence of the Lord”. Silly prophet.

Now, we laugh at Jonah for being ridiculous, but given the calls to serve others and make disciples that are clear words from the Lord to us, I’m confident you’ve hitched a boat to Tarshish many a time instead of doing the thing that God called you to do. That’s not a clever anecdote, boys, put the think on it.

God, of course, wants this thing accomplished and he appears to want Jonah to do it. So, he sends a storm to bring attention to that matter. The other sea-faring folk, a superstitious group as sailors tend to be, start chucking stuff off to reduce weight and crying out to their respective “gods”. Jonah, on the other hand, is taking a snoozer in the inner part of the boat. (This story should sound familiar, Jesus kind of does the same thing. Although, he was being obedient and Jonah was being a doofus, so, there’s that.)

Again, someone has to come to Jonah and say, “Arise…”, a call to a legit prophet who actually does work for the legit Lord God to wake up and pray so that people could be saved. He’s already bailed on this responsibility once to work with God and save the Ninevites, he’s now given chance number 2. Note, here, that the pagan sailors have a better concept of the power and sovereignty of “god” (in principle), even if this concept may not have them thinking in the beginning of the true God. Of course, the one guy on the boat who could speak to that is sleeping. (Ah hem, application, ah hem, for you…yes you.)

Then they cast lots, kind of like picking marbles out of bag and the dude who gets the black marble is the trouble maker. This isn’t just for pagan action, God’s people did this as well and just trusted God would handle the outcome. Scripture seems to at least passively affirm this practice, although I’m not sure if that has implications for whether we are to carry around a bag of marbles for similar occasions or not. Either way, Jonah gets pegged, sailors interrogate him and find out that he is Hebrew who “fears” the Lord God of heaven “…who made sea and the dry land.” Jonah is a real piece of work. His actions don’t obviously match his supposed “fear” of God and his belief that He controls the land and sea (which ironically is after him at the moment).

And the reaction of the mariners seems fitting. “What is this that you have done?” I get that we’re surrounded by a bunch of people who currently don’t know God, but once they start to open their eyes to it they’ll look at the Christians around them who haven’t said anything to them and who largely bailed on what God had them up to and say, “What is this that you have done?”

Either way, the problem is solved by them chucking Jonah out of the boat, a suggestion made by Jonah himself. Although he didn’t just jump in, I do wonder if that was an option. Was it important that he be thrown in by the boat bros? It’s unclear. They first tried to solve problems the man way, rowing harder, trying to get away from the problem. That fails. Then they, the pagan sailors, cry out to the Lord, ask for forgiveness for the throwing of a man overboard that is about to commence, and hope that it pleases Him. Then they chuck Jonah, offer a sacrifice and make vows (kind of a thing that happens when people rightly fear God.)

Then Jonah gets swallowed by a giant fish and is trapped in there for the 3 days. You know, like can happen.

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James Chapter 1:13-27

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Bible Study 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians – Chapter 1

Paul opens this letter to the Corinthians in standard fashion, introducing himself and giving his bona fides (he does what he does because God desired it so and was sent out (apostle=”sent one”) on the Lord’s behalf. Sosthenes is added here as part of the authorship of the letter. I suspect he was the guy who delivered the letter and just tacked his name on it for good measure, but that has no grounding in Biblical or historical fact. 
 
As Paul often does, he gives away some of what the letter is going to be about in his description of the folks he is writing to. Here, the people in Corinth are described as those, “…sanctified in Christ Jesus” and “…called to be saints together…” We shouldn’t be surprised, then, to see the notion of sanctification (making holy, righteousness, etc.) and unity show up as things he wants to focus on. 
 
Paul gives thanks for the Corinthian church in a way that mirrors his other letters and is almost always actually a thanks to God for what He has done in the community of believers that are in focus. In Corinth, Paul is grateful that they have heard the good news and received the “knowledge” (mind that, it’ll be important in a minute) which is sufficient to provide all the necessary gifts that come from the Spirit. Similarly, it is sufficient to sustain them until Jesus returns, guiltless in the site of God who orchestrated this whole thing and allowed them to be saved through Jesus. 
 
Then Paul hits his first appeal – unity. He wants, “…all of you [to] agree, and that there be no divisions among you.” There, the hint we got in 1:2 pays off just 8 verses later. It seems as though people are segmenting themselves by which great steward brought them to the faith (likely in a vain attempt to make themselves look good. It’s a story to tell people you met Jesus through Billy Graham. If you tell them you met Jesus through Ben Fust no one cares. There’s some pride and a wrong measure of greatness in here that is deeper than just an argument as to whether you follow Paul or Apollos, who was reported to be a big deal in the New Testament even though he really wasn’t.) 
 
In general, the church at Corinth is starting to allow some of the value systems outside of the Kingdom to influence measures of value, status and worth within the Kingdom. Obviously, this can’t stand and Paul reminds them that there is indeed only one Jesus. He is who we follow, it was he who was crucified, it is he who we are baptized into, he who provides the example of righteousness. Paul even seems to be happy that he didn’t baptize most of these folks so that he can’t be pegged for being part of this weird mess. 
 
His reaction does raise some questions (“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel…”) I’d say that it’s a stretch to try and use this verse as an attempt to somehow diminish the importance of baptism, that’s not the point. I think it’s more of Paul saying that others do the baptizing, his job was delivery of good news in this situation. Note that he assumes all of them are baptized when he asks if they were baptized in the name of Paul. It wasn’t a question of if they were baptized, it was a reminder of by whom and for whom. 
 
Before we get too far from it, don’t miss our gal Chloe. First of all, it’s a lady who we get by name who not only is familiar and interacting with Paul about the Corinthian church but she also has “people”. It infers too much to assign her some sort of wealth or social status for having people, they could be friends, family, or folks from her household. They could also be disciples of hers (although her followers would seem to not have the same issues as the other groups because they are informing Paul of the wrong focus and behavior.) 
 
Now, to the meat of the rest of this chapter. When Paul talks about preaching the gospel, he continues the reorientation of what the world values vs. what the Kingdom values. The Good News Paul brings wasn’t what the world would consider elegant wisdom; the power of the message is its truth, simplicity and outlandishness. He spends the next few verses re-emphasizing that fact. Basically, line up those who supposedly have knowledge (the wise, the scribe, the debater) and see how the Good News makes fools of them. And it is through what they believe is foolish that people are being saved, both the Jews and the Gentiles. What’s the message? Christ crucified. For all the blowharding, arguing, temple sex, imperial worship, philosophy and whatever else goes on around them, the message of Christ crucified is what saves. 
 
To continue the point, Paul calls attention to the specific circumstances of the folks in Corinth. He says, “Look at you fellas, you all weren’t wise or powerful or noble when you got into the Kingdom. And yet here you are.” God chose what is foolish (ahem, these folks; plus, you know, kings dying on crosses to save everyone, being great by being a servant, not storing up money,) all kinds of things the world would consider foolish. 
 
Basic application for us is the same for them: remember where you belong. You will be different than the rest of the world, it’s kind of the nature of living in a different Kingdom. Also, the values of a fallen earth don’t play here. Jesus measures greatness differently and these notions of status or worth that you are deriving from the wrong sources do nothing but separate you unnecessarily. (I might note that excessive focus or deriving status on your particular church community runs the same risk. If you are deriving more pride around what church you go to than the identity you get from Jesus, that’s a problem.) 
 
So what is wisdom? Jesus. “And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” Our pride, then, isn’t in who first shared with us the Good News (Cephas, Apollos, whoever). It isn’t in the church we go to or our own knowledge or wisdom or righteousness. Where we boast, we boast in the Lord. 
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Bible Study Amos Study Amos

Amos – Chapter 1

Amos opens with an introduction of who he is. It’s interesting who he is not, which is a denoted prophet. In fact, he’s just a shepherd (Tekoa is a town just south of Jerusalem, so it’s in Judah. I remember Israel is in the north and Judah to the south by the order of the first letter of their names in the alphabet. “I” is first, it’s on top of “J”, which is on the bottom.) Either way, his target is Israel in the days of Uzziah (which makes him a bit of a contemporary of Isaiah, who has the famous scene in Isaiah 6 where he gets the vision in heaven in the year Uzziah dies.) 
 
Make no mistake, Amos brings the heavy. In the first chapter he’s basically going to lay out some consistently patterned judgment upon the nations that surround Israel. They suck, and God’s people will be glad to hear what Amos is saying here. (They shouldn’t get too comfortable, they don’t know it yet but their time has also come, God is sick of their stuff, too.) 
 
Amos establishes that it is God we’re hearing from by giving a picture of him “roaring from Zion”. The very earth weeps at this and the mountain where the gods of the world were defeated soundly (Mt. Carmel, it’s where God whooped upon Baal with Elijah calling the fire down). You know there’s going to be some business going down with this opening salvo.
 
Here we go: Syria sucks (north of Israel, and we know it’s them, Damascus is their capital) because they have ransacked and torn through Gilead, a part of Israel. So God will judge them and it will land on the King (Ben-Hedad) who has no means to protect himself from God’s wrath in this area. The towns referenced and people referenced here show that God intimately knows who he is dealing with and bringing judgment upon. They shall be sent back to Kir (their original land) and out of the lands where they have stuck their nose where it doesn’t belong. 
 
Next, Philistia sucks (on the Mediterranean coast, just west of Judah), because they were in cahoots with the Edomites and booted people out of their land. Again, God responds with judgment/fire and the breaking of any protections the Philistines believe they have, and their leaders will be dealt with harshly (again, they are called out by name).
 
Next, Tyre sucks (north of Philistia, west of Israel) for basically the same reason Philistia sucks, they were in cahoots with Edom. (The Edomites were Esau’s descendants, by the way.) In addition, Tyre seemed to have agreements with these people (close enough to be considered a “covenant of brotherhood”), that they ignored in this cahootery with Edom. Poor form. So, fire to the wall of Tyre and strongholds devoured. Pretty consistent here.  
 
Then there’s Edom, a merciless group of hooligans who openly treated their “brothers” (Israel), in anger and without pity. We don’t get kings named here, just cities (Teman and Bozrah), but the gist is the same, fire and devouring of strongholds. 
 
Finally for chapter 1, the Ammonites (just east of Israel). They suck because they have “ripped open pregnant women in Gilead” in an attempt to gain land. As expected, God responds with fire and devouring of strongholds. Kings are back in view here and they he will be exiled, along with his sons. 
 
The reason I opened with Assyria as a backdrop is because God will use the Assyrians, at a time when these nations believed Assyria was losing power, as the means to keep the promises our man Amos is making now. 
 
 
 <<< Amos – Intro Chapter 2 >>>

 

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Revelation Chapter 1

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