One of the great discplers God's placed in my life is Dorman Followwill. I think of him as my "Paul" and I am "Timothy."
Paul's defense of his apostleship and testimony continues in Galatians 2. Paul has been talking about the gospel that is from God and not from man and that he is a messenger from God, not from man, to present the gospel and that he is to please God, the sender of the message. So far Paul has not spelled it out how the gospel was being perverted in Galatia. In chapter 2, he gets down to it.
After fourteen years away from Jerusalem, Paul returns "because of a revelation" (2:2). It's not quite clear what this revelation was, but Paul earlier said that he received the gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ. I would believe that the Spirit revealed to Paul that he should go to Jerusalem- a revelation of God not of man. This journey to Jerusalem is recorded in Acts 15.
So how was the gospel being perverted? In Acts 15:1-
1Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."
Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch at the time and Jews ("from Judea") came down an preached a false gospel. They turned a gospel of grace into a gospel of legalism and works- you had to do a specific work in order to be saved.
Acts 15 and Galatians 2 records the same story- one from the Luke's historical perspective, and other from Paul's personal perspective. Paul says he submitted to those "of reputation" the gospel which he preached among the Gentiles, for he feared that he might be running in vain. Paul went to Jerusalem, directed by the Spirit, to submit the gospel he had been preaching to the elders at the Jerusalem church for approval or endorsement.
Note in 2:1, Paul makes a point to mention that Titus, a Greek (2:3), went with him to Jerusalem and that not even he was persuaded to be circumcised. Paul mentions Titus thirteen times in his epistles and was one of his closest brothers.
Remember that the early church came out of Judaism. God commanded the Israelites to circumcise baby boys as a sign of the the covenant made with Abraham. (Genesis 17:10-14) Now, some Jews who had become Christian were teaching that one had to be circumcised to be saved. The gospel was now going out to the Gentiles so this was a sensitive issue, to say the least. Note what Paul says about these "false brothers" in 2:4-
4But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.
Note the terms "secretly," "sneaked in," and "spy." This was an intentional covert operation to cast lies in the gospel. Remember these were Jews from Judea who travelled up to Antioch! Antioch is about 300 miles north of Jerusalem. Perhaps the Jews did not want the Gentiles to enter into the Kingdom.
How do we handle people who teach lies? Do not yield; not even for an hour! 2:5-
5But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
In 2:7-10, we see that the Peter, James and John accepted Paul into their fellowship and saw that Paul had been redeemed by grace. In effect, Paul defends his apostleship by equating himself to Peter. Peter, an apostle, who brought the gospel to the Jews, the circumcised equated to Paul, an apostle, who brought the gospel to the Gentiles.
But even apostles sometimes err, and Paul calls out Peter(Cephas) here. Peter used to eat with the Gentiles, but when "certain men" sent by James came, he would distance himself from the Gentiles, "fearing the party of the circumcision." Paul calls out Peter for his hypocrisy. Jews were not to associate w/ Gentiles or they would be considered "unclean." (Acts 10:28) For Peter to eat with Gentiles, it was likely that he was eating non-kosher food. Yet, when those Jews were around he'd withdraw, probably avoiding eating with the Gentiles.
In Galatians 2:14-21 Paul quotes his rebuke of Peter. What is he saying here?
"If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?" (2:14)
14"If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jew?
15"We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles
i.e. Jews follow the Law, whereas Gentiles (sinners) do not, but...
16nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Paul is saying, "Even though we are Jews and followed the Law(v15), we know that man is not justified by following the Law, rather man is justified by faith in Christ."
Paul actually repeats himself here to get the point across. Three times in the same verse he says that man is not justified by the works of the Law (highlighted in red) and three times he says that justification comes through faith in Christ (highlighted in green).
17"But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!
Even though we are justified by faith in Christ (building upon v16), we still sin, but that doesn't make Christ a "minister of sin."
18"For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
The works of the Law by the flesh is what has been destroyed and we should not go back to them (rebuild). If we do, then we are proved transgressors.
19"For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
We are dead in our sins in the Law. "So that"- We had to die in our sins to the Law so that we could be alive in Christ (because there is no life in the Law.)
20"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
We identify with Christ in his death on the cross, for He died for our sins. It is we who should be on that cross, yet He took our place. As Christ died on the cross, so did our life by the Law. In Christ's resurrection, we now live by faith because He rose from the dead and He now lives in us, the believer.
21"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."
Living by the Law nullifies the grace of God; meaning- if we life by the Law, then God's grace is worthless to us because we have rejected grace for works. If we reject salvation, the Christ died needlessly. Suppose you bought a gift for your friend. But when you present the gift freely to your friend, he refuses it and insists on paying for the item himself. Paying for it himself requires his own money from his paycheck from his job. Now suppose this gift can not be purchased for one's self, but only purchased to be given away. This is what Christ did for us. Salvation is offered to us by grace. There's nothing we can do to earn it. Trying to attain salvation by works, in the case of the Jews this meant adhering to the Law, is futile. In Paul's time, the Jews tried to impose circumcision on the Gentiles. "Believe in Christ and be circumcised, then you are saved." Today, this legalism can be seen wherever we add things to the gospel- how many times have you done your daily devotions this past week? how much have you given in offering? are you "doing your part" at church? Notice that legalism usually amounts to something that is measurable.
Paul says we are dead to all that, for salvation in Christ is by grace. No more works by the flesh (spiritual dead), rather the life we live in the flesh (physical bodies) is by faith in Christ. Unfortunately, I can't say it any more eloquently that Paul said it himself in Galatians 2:20-
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Chapter 3 concluded with Paul's purpose for writing to Timothy and a six line presentation of the life of Jesus Christ-
14I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long;
15but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
16By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:
He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.
It is key that Paul writes about the church being the pillar and support of the truth, for he continues to write in Chapter 4 about those who "fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons." Essentially, people will fall away by following false teachings.
Where are these false teachings coming from? v1-3 is a little hard to parse out in the NASB due to the long sentence. I will try to diagram it here:
1But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith,
paying attention
to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
2by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,
3men who forbid marriage and
advocate abstaining from foods
which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
People will fall away from the faith because they are following false teaching from "deceitful spirits" and "demons." This sounds otherworldly where we may be thinking that this would never happen to us or in our church, or in a modern day church. People following the teachings of evil spirits and demons? Yet, in the very same breath, Paul puts these men teaching false doctrine and alongside the spirits and demons. Apparently some men were forbidding marriage, which is very odd since God instituted marriage in the very beginning with Adam and Eve!
The false teaching of abstaining from certain foods was a key issue in the early church. The Law had strict guidelines as to what the Israelites were allowed to eat and what not to eat. We see this today in our supermarkets where foods are labeled as kosher. In Acts we see the Gospel going out to the Gentiles and in Acts 9 and 10, God leads Peter through a series of incidences where He shows him the Gospel is now going out to the Gentiles. The most famous incident is in Acts 10:9-19 where Peter falls into a trance and sees a sheet filled with unclean animals descending from the sky. Unclean meaning non-kosher. The Lord commands Peter to kill and eat, but Peter resists, saying that he's never eaten anything unclean. But the Lord says, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." (Acts 10:15) Also see Galatians 2 where Paul mentions this in another context.
While these men weren't teaching something radical such as worshipping Satan, but the false teaching was a teaching of legalism. I won't get into it here, but Paul chastises the Galatians for turning away from a life of grace and liberty in Christ and returning to a life of bondage in the Law from which Christ set us free. This legalistic false teaching can very easily seep into our lives in the way we think and live out or Christian faith.
One thing to note about the false teaching is that it takes what is intended to be good into something a sin. In v3, Paul writes that food and marriage was created by God to be "gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth." Note the end of the verse- "by those who believe and know the truth." This is in direct contrast to the false teachers! Those who believe and know the truth get to enjoy marriage and food while those who believe in the lies are deprived of that enjoyment.
Paul here shows Timothy the strategy to address false teaching which is to point it back to God, the source of truth!
Continuing on, Paul tells Timothy that if he points out these things (the truth vs. the lies), then he "will be a good servant of Christ Jesus." And a good servant of Christ Jesus is "constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following." Timothy, as pastor of the Ephesian church, was to be a man of the Word and sound doctrine, teaching it to his flock.
Additionally, Timothy was to "discipline" himself "for the purpose of godliness... since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." Paul emphasizes the importance of this statement by saying "It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance." (v9)
v10 Paul again presents the gospel in short form- "For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed out hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers."
1 Timothy 4:6-10 are crucial to having a Biblical understanding the life of a pastor and his and the churches goal. According to the Apostle Paul, a pastor is to be a man of God's Word, continually nourising himself on it. (4:6) He is not to have anything to do with "worldy fables" (4:7) The pastor himself is to "discipline" himself "for the purpose of godliness" because godliness holds promise for this life and for the life in heaven. (4:8) And why is the pastor to do all this? For he is to be an example to the believers.
Without 4:10, the preceding verses are just "a good thing" to do. In 4:8 and 10, Paul gives the whole reason for ministry! 4:10-
For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
Yes, this is the gospel in short form as I mentioned earlier. But here, Paul is giving one of the main reasons for the church ministry- to discipline(train) believers for the purpose of godliness because it "holds promise" in this life and in the afterlife in heaven. Why? v10, because of our hope in God who saved us.
Paul is coming back to what he started with in Chapter 1. Recall 1 Timothy 1:5-
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith
He continues to urge Timothy through the rest of Chapter 4-
11Prescribe and teach these things.
12Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.
13Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.
14Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.
15Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.
16Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.
Paul focuses on what Timothy what must do - "Prescribe and teach these things." Timothy is to keep on prescribing and teaching the truth. Note Paul uses two words here "prescribe" and "teach." Another word for prescribe is command. The Greek word here is "paragello"-
Paraggello:
In effect, Timothy was to prescribe the Word that people would "take the prescription" so to speak. Just as a doctor writing a prescription for the patient, the presumption is that the patient will take the medicine and take it according to the instructions. So Timothy was just not to teach the Word and people could take it or leave it, but he was to charge them with the Word.
In all Timothy did, he was to show himself an example to those who believe- in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. (4:12)
He was to "give attention to"- (4:13)
Going on, Paul instructs Timothy to not neglect the spiritual gift in him.
4:15 is very interesting- "Take pains with these things, be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all." These things Paul is instructing Timothy to do are not going to be easy things to do (take pains), yet he is to "be in them" (absorbed in them) to, again, be an example for others.
Finally 4:16, "Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you." Paul was warning against false teaching entering the church and causing believers to fall from the faith. After quickly showing Timothy how to fight lies with the truth from God, he instructs Timothy primarily in what he is to do as a pastor: Teach the Word and be focused on God's Word for himself for the purpose of godliness. Further Timothy, by being immersed in the Word, teaching the Word, nurturing his spiritual gift, being a godly man by example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity will be an example to his flock and then will ensure the salvation both for himself and for those who hear him(v16).
Paul repeatedly urges Timothy to teach the Word:
v6 "In pointing out these things..."
v11 "Prescribe and teach these things...."
v13 "public reading of Scripture... teaching."
v16 "pay close attention ... to your teaching"
Paul also says twice that Timothy, the pastor, is an example to others...
v12 "show yourself and example..."
v15 "... so that your progress will be evident to all"
Paul's direct instruction to Timothy here is not telling Timothy how he should execute the ministry; i.e. "do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that." Rather Paul's focus is on Timothy, the pastor. The pastor need do only a few things. First is to continually teach the Word to the believers. Second is to be example to the believers of the Word which is alive and at work in him. This is how the gospel message is secured in each persons heart and will not be seduced by false teachings. Lastly note in v16 at the end, that in doing so, Timothy will ensure salvation "for those who hear you." Remember in v1, Paul said the Spirit revealed that in "later times some will fall away from the faith." In v16, Paul has just concluded instructing Timothy in the priorities of a pastor but how to keep people from falling away from the faith.
In 1 Timothy 3, Paul follows on his teaching prayer and the order of men and women in the church with the order of the church itself in the qualifications of overseers (elders) and deacons.
Paul opens the passage in a very interesting way, "It is a trustworthy statement." Paul uses this clause four times in the New Testament, all in the two letters to Timothy:
1 Timothy 1:15 - It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
1 Timothy 3:1 - It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
1 Timothy 4:8-10 - For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. 10For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
2 Timothy 2:11-12 - It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
12If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
In three instances, Paul is is talking about salvation, value of godliness, and life in Christ. But in the instance here, Paul is talking about the leadership of the church. As sure as our salvation is, the office of overseer in the church is a fine work. It may not seem like much, but put alongside the other statements where Paul uses the phrase "a trustworthy statement" that is staggering.
Further, we can infer that it is a good thing for a man to want to be an overseer for fine work is done in that office.
Perhaps it is inherent in our culture or we are too humble if that were possible, but it seems many are afraid to aspire to the office of overseer because of the high qualifications that are listed by Paul in v2-7:
6and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.
7And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Paul says that an elder should not be a new convert, which seems reasonable enough, but the exact reason he gives is very telling of what the heart of an elder should be. The elder shouldn't become conceited (Webster defn: having or showing an excessively high opinion of oneself) or he will fall into the same condemnation as the devil.25with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
26and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
In Chapter 1, Paul gave Timothy his charge as the pastor of the church at Ephesus: To produce love from a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. Chapter 1 is foundational- it states the goal of our ministry. In fact, this is one very simple way we could evaluate our ministries- are the believers in our flock becoming more and more loving people because their heart is pure, their consciences are good and their faith is sincere?
2:1 "First of all" - What is the 1st thing Paul talks about after the foundation of Chapter 1? PRAYER!
2for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
Paul gives four different names to prayer: 3This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
6who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
Verses 5-6 are a direct follow on from verses 3-4. God desires all me to be saved (v4)- for(v5) or "because"- and Paul again launches into the gospel message for the 2nd time in the first two chapters! There is one God and Christ is the one mediator between God and us and it is Christ who paid for our sins.
Verse 7, Paul re-emphasizes his own calling as a preacher and an apostle. Like in 1:1, Paul reiterates his being an apostle. Remember that some in the early church doubted Paul's apostleship. Finally, Paul is appointed as the teacher to the Gentiles "in faith and truth." A Jew appointed to be the teacher of the Gentiles, writing to a Gentile pastor, at a Gentile church in a predominantly Gentile city!
Verse 8- "Therefore"- here's the bottom line:
8Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, ifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.
Note that Paul says that he wants all the men in every place to pray. Not just the leader, or the mature Christians, but every man!
Lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. This is a hard one to live up to. Notably, prayer meetings are usually not well attended. And in fact, prayer seems to often times get brushed to the side because there are so many things to take care of at church.
11A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.
12But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
13For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.
14And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
15But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.
A = But his delight is
B = in the law of the LORD, and
B' = on his law
A' = he meditates day and night.
Poetic symmetry :)
We meditate day and night on the thing(s) in which we find delight. I want this verse to be true of my life that I delight in "the law," God's Word, and meditate on it day and night.
Before we look dive into 1 Timothy, let's look at the context of this pastoral epistle by Paul-
Acts 20:17-38-
Paul went to Ephesus and found some disciples there. He taught in the synagogue, but when some of the people developed hard hearts Paul took the disciples and formed the Ephesian church where he remained for two years. Paul proceeded to Macedonia and Greece, then returned to Miletus, about 30 miles south of Ephesus, on his way to Jerusalem. Paul thought that this was the final time he would be with the Ephesian elders, meeting Miletus.
Paul's final instructions to the elders in Ephesus:
v28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
29"I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
30and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
31"Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.
v35 "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
18This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight,
19keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.
20Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.
Paul opens the letter to the Galatians by identifying himself to be an apostle, "not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead." (1:1)
What is an apostle? "men who were commissioned by the Lord Himself and given the task of speaking authoritatively on doctrine and practice in the church." Therefore he establishes that his authority is from Christ Himself, for one issue in the 1st century church was a debate of whether to consider Paul an apostle since he was not among the original 12 disciples. We are to heed Paul's instructions as authoritative and from God.
Paul intended this letter to be distributed "to the churches (plural) of Galatia." (1:2)
Verse 1:3, sounds like a standard salutation:
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
4who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of (J)our God and Father,
5to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
4who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
5to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
Paul is in fact greeting the Galatians with the whole point of his letter. The thesis is to live by the true gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel of grace, liberty and freedom, which is from God, as opposed to living a gospel from man which is of the flesh, bondage and the Law.
Sometimes you just gotta read inter linear. What a cliche'!
Discovered this cool site for Old and New Testament Interlinears: http://www.scripture4all.org/
There's also a downloadable version to install on your computer: http://www.scripture4all.org/download/download_ISA20.php
Interlinears are a great Bible study tool, even if you don't know Hebrew or Koine Greek. It's helpful to just look up the the words in a Bible Dictionary or Lexicon.
I use The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English. Don't have an Old Testament one yet.
Stumbled upon a pretty interesting Hermeneutics Quiz.
Click here to take the quiz: http://buildingchurchleaders.com/assessments/individuals/hermeneuticsquiz.html
Which of the three categories do you fall into? Agree? Disagree? What do you think?
I scored a 32.
Perhaps the title of this entry should be, "Why do you interpret the Bible the way you do?"
What strange times we live in.
I noticed the cover story of the August 6, 2007 issue of BusinessWeek: "The Pet Economy." Under the title it reads, "Americans now spend $41 BILLION on their pets." That is "more than the gross domestic product of all but 64 countries in the world" it continues at the beginning of the article (page 45, 2nd paragraph). I haven't read the entire story- maybe I will later... but...
Holy Cow! Literally.
Ironically, also in the news and media this week is Michael Vick, the starting quarterback of the NFL Atlanta Falcons, who got mixed up in a dogfighting ring which was on his own property. Listening to AM680 today, Razor was ranting about how Vick would not play in the NFL next year and probably for a long while. He was saying how Americans have a soft spot for pets and they will not be able to look past (forgive) this, hence no NFL team would sign him; assuming the Falcons are rid of him. If you follow sports, you know that if the athlete can perform some team is going to sign him; no matter what he did.
Laurence Phillips, who beat up a girl in college, was drafted by the Rams and even played for the 49ers! What about Kobe Bryant, a confessed adulterer? It appears the media's forgotten all about it, though maybe his endorsement deals aren't what they once were.
Trust me Razor, if Michael Vick can perform he'll be back in some capacity.
Seeing these two stories in the media really got me thinking about the value of human life and man's place in the world. It seems our society affords more value and dignity to an animal than to a human being.
A pastor visiting our church noted the one thing that really struck him about The City after moving here was the sheer amount of people begging on the streets. His wife came up w/ the novel idea of always keeping McDonald's gift certificates in her purse to give out rather than giving cash which could go to cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs.
$41,000,000,000 each year, and growing, would go a long way in helping the homeless. Heck, I wonder if that could provide housing, food, rehab and job training to every single homeless person in the nation each year?
So what is man? Naturally, the answer comes from God, the Creator.
Genesis 1:26-28
26Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."27God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
1O LORD, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
3When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
5Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
7All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
8The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9O LORD, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth!
Deuteronomy 7:6-11
6"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.Cross-reference Genesis 12.7"The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
8but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9"Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
10but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.
11"Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.
The Gospel According to Luke opens w/ the purpose of the book, addressing its intended audience. I've previously written about it here on my personal blog:
http://wilsonleungsworld.blogspot.com/2007/04/according-to-luke.html
Reading Luke 1, I was struck by the incredible parallelism between Zechariah and Mary's separate encounters with the Archangel Gabriel.
Compare Zechariah and Mary’s Encounter w/ Gabriel
| What | Zechariah | Mary | Comment Z. = Zechariah M. = Mary |
| Angel Appears | 10And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. | 28"Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." | Gabriel doesn’t say anything to Z., but does to M. when he 1st appears. |
| Reaction | 12Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. | 29But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. | Likewise, Z. is troubled by the angel’s appearance, whereas M. is perplexed at what he said. |
| Angel says | 13Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. "You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. 16"And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17"It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah,TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
| 30"Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."
| Z. and M. both get “Do not be afraid.”
God hears and answers Z’s petition, whereas M. did not petition anything, yet God found favor in her.
Gabriel proceeds to foretell the lives of John and Jesus. |
| Response | 18"How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years." | 34"How can this be, since I am a virgin?" | In v18, “for certain,” is not in the Greek, but added for clarity.
Z. asks how he will know it will be true, whereas M. asks how it will happen. Fine distinction, but it is supported in Gabriel’s response… |
| Angel says | 19"I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20"And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time." | The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. 36"And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37"For nothing will be impossible with God."
| Let me try to paraphrase the Gabriel’s response to Z. and to M.:
To Z.: You will know this for certain b/c I am archangel of God and have been sent by God. (He appeals to the authority of the master.)
To M.: Gabriel answers by explaining how it will come to be since that is what Mary asked!
Pretty simple! |
| Response | Elizabeth 25"This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men." | 38"Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." | Interestingly, Z. doesn’t get to reflect on what has occurred; at least it is not recorded by Luke. So, as Z. was muted due to doubt, he’s also muted in the Scriptural record. Rather, Elizabeth reflects on God’s blessing, not Z.
M.’s response is of such beautiful total submission to God. And, the final clause, “may it be done to me according to your word” – really shows that she never doubted Gabriel’s word! |
This past Sunday, our church had a farewell party for DF and family. I had the honor of sharing a few words on be-half of the church. Just the day before, I got to spend precious time w/ Swan and his family! As I began writing the farewell to DF Saturday evening, it occurred to me to use the concepts learned from "How to Study the Bible" sessions: Observations/Context/Content/Conversation. As well, in the Hebrew Scriptures we saw many examples of chiastic structure, so I threw that in as well.
I opened with some observations, but then got to the chiastic part. Here's my outline of that section:
A = Blessed to have a wonderful founding pastor in Sonny.
1Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us,
3it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus;
4so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.
