Scripture Notes: On Fire (2 Timothy 1)

St. Paul likely wrote his second letter to Timothy at the very end of his life. Scholars think that Paul was probably in prison in Rome for a second time, facing charges that would lead to his martyrdom not long after this letter was sent. So this letter serves as something like Paul’s last will and testament to the younger man who had served him so well throughout his missionary years and who was now the bishop of the Church at Ephesus.

Paul tells Timothy many important things about the Christian life, and he begins by exhorting Timothy to “rekindle the gift of God that is within you...for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:6-7). In other words, Timothy must be on fire for God. He must allow the Holy Spirit to set him ablaze and to fill him with His own power and love and self-control. Timothy must open himself up to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and he must have the courage to embrace those gifts and allow them to change him from the inside out.

Fire warms and cheers the heart, but it also purifies and even destroys. The fire of the Holy Spirit burns off our imperfections and destroys our sins. And this can hurt, especially when we hold tightly to those imperfections and sins. But the Spirit can also inflame our love and devotion. He can spur us to reach out to others so that they can see His brilliant light within us and be drawn to Him.

So let us follow Paul’s advice and allow the Holy Spirit to kindle His fire in us so that we may experience His healing love and shine that brilliance to others.

Scripture Notes: Reality Check (Proverbs 1)

The first chapter of the Book of Proverbs gives us a sharp reality check. The author, traditionally King Solomon, tells us exactly what we need if we are going to truly flourish in this world and, more importantly, find favor with God and live within His will. 

The first thing Solomon does is invite us to get our priorities right. We need “wisdom and instruction” that lead us to “righteousness, justice, and equity” (Prov 1:2-3). We must learn prudence, knowledge, and discretion (Prov 1:4). We have to listen and discover how to work out difficult ideas and sayings using our reason (Prov 1:5-6). And how do we start? Solomon tells us: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov 1:7). We start with God. We pray to Him; we worship Him; we revere Him; we listen to His word; we humbly hear the wise people God places in our lives to instruct us. We submit to God, knowing full well that God is God, and we are not. That is the beginning of wisdom. 

Solomon does not stop there. He continues with a warning, urging us not to consent to the enticement of sin. He presents a vivid picture of what that temptation looks like and how sin appeals to our desire for wealth and recognition and belonging. But in the end, it only brings us misery. It catches us in a trap. So, as hard as it is, we must say no. We must not be fools who refuse to listen and scorn wisdom and good advice. We must not hate knowledge and turn our backs on the fear of the Lord. If we do, we will get exactly what we deserve: we will eat the fruit we have planted. 

We all need this reality check at times. We all get caught up in our own ideas and our own ways, and we try to make reality conform to ourselves rather than the other way around. But conforming ourselves to reality is wisdom, especially when we realize that God is our highest and best Reality.

Scripture Notes: Set Apart (Galatians 1)

As St. Paul opens his Letter to the Galatians, he establishes his authority as an apostle. There is a major problem in the Galatian Church (some so-called evangelists are trying to draw Gentile Christians away from the Gospel and into a doctrine of their own devising), and Paul needs to make the truth very clear. He has been sent by Jesus Christ Himself to preach the actual Gospel, the reality of Christian faith and life.

Paul recalls how he once persecuted the infant Christian Church. As a zealous Jew, he thought he was doing the right thing, trying to stamp out this new movement that seemed to him to be so horribly off course. But then Paul met Jesus Himself on the road to Damascus, and everything changed. Paul explains that “He Who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me” (Galatians 1:15-16). Paul realizes that God has chosen Him, has set him apart for a particular mission. And Paul accepts. He throws himself into the life Jesus has given him. He becomes as zealous for Christianity as he was against it, perhaps even more, for now he knows the truth. 

Paul did not chase after Jesus. In fact, he persecuted Jesus as he persecuted the Church. Jesus chased after Paul. And He caught him. For Paul has been set apart for God. He has free will, of course, to accept or reject, but he chooses his mission. He says yes and receives the Gospel to spread to the world. Paul knows exactly how blessed he is to be set apart.

Scripture Notes: Ups and Downs (Psalm 30)

Psalm 30 is a song of ups and downs. The psalmist, likely King David himself, speaks of his confidence in prosperity. Nothing can move him, he thinks. He has God’s favor and is, therefore like a “strong mountain,” firm and stable. But then comes the crash. God seems to hide His face, and David is “dismayed.” His enemies close in around him, and he feels like he is about ready to go down to the netherworld, mourning and grieving and weeping.

But David does not fall into despair. He does not give up on God. Instead, he prays. He reaches out to God in his pain and bewilderment, crying for help. He is not afraid to ask God, “what profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit?” He cannot praise God there, he believes. So he begs God to hear him and be gracious to him, to be his helper, to raise him up from the depths. It is a heartfelt prayer of trust in God’s love and mercy. 

And God responds. He raises David up, turning his “mourning into dancing” and wrapping him in gladness. God saves David from his enemies and dries his tears, comforting him and restoring him. David, in turn, breaks out in praise to God. “I will extol thee, O Lord,” he proclaims. His soul reaches out in praise and thanksgiving forever, and he encourages others to join him in this grateful worship. 

For David has a new perspective thanks to his ups and downs. God’s anger, he explains, “is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” There are ups and downs in life. There always will be. There are times of suffering and pain, but these are designed to lead us to God, to imitate David in crying out to Him in prayer, and to allow Him to raise us up as He chooses, trusting in His love. And the love of God always triumphs in the end.

Scripture Notes: God’s Voice (Job 38)

Job says a lot in the book called by his name, and we cannot really blame him. He is suffering horribly. His whole life has turned upside down and inside out, and his friends, who are supposed to comfort him, end up scolding and mocking him instead. He is miserable, and he tells God all about it. 

This in itself is not bad. God can handle our questions and our complaints. He can handle our fears and our doubts. But Job does go a bit too far at times, especially when he questions God’s justice. Job wants to take his case straight to God, and he is absolutely certain that he is right and God is wrong. He wants a chance to prove it.  

In the end, Job does get his opportunity to stand before God when God speaks to him from a whirlwind. God does not give Job the answers he wants, at least not directly. Rather, He peppers him with questions. Hey, Job, do you know how the universe works? Were you there when I created it? Can you control it and order it and make it work? No? 

Job cannot answer any of God’s questions, and he quickly realizes that God is God, and he is not. And that is his answer. God sees the big picture. He understand the whole of creation in a glance. He puts all the pieces in place and holds the whole thing together. He knows the reasons why He does certain things and allows other things to happen. And because God is perfectly good, everything he does and allows is ultimately for our good. We just cannot see it or know because we are not God. That is the whole point. We have to trust God to know and do and allow what is exactly best for us because He does. 

Scripture Notes: The Message of the Prophets, Part 2

But God’s warnings go unheeded. The people even scorn the prophets, hating their words and their call to repentance. So God disciplines His people. He allows the covenant curses to fall on His rebellious family. The prophets describe what happens. In chapter 10, Ezekiel watches as God’s glory leaves the Temple. In chapter 33, the same prophet describes the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah adds significant details in his chapters 39 and 52, and Lamentations and Baruch paint a dire portrait of suffering and loss. Joel speaks of a plague of locusts while Obadiah describes the downfall of Edom (a related neighbor who dares to scorn Israel). None of this seems much like love. Famine and the sword, plague and captivity, fire and destruction and exile. These seem more like hatred. But God does not hate His people. They have refused to learn from God’s instructions, so now they have to learn the hard way. This is what a parent does. Children must face the consequences of their choices, as horrible as they may be. They have to understand the horrors of sin, the effects of their rebellion. God’s justice is part of His love, and it falls heavily when people refuse to accept His mercy.
    
Yet God does not forget His people. After all, He continues to send them messages through the prophets. He could have gone silent, but He does not. Instead He tells them that He will help them in the midst of their sufferings. He says through Isiah, “fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My victorious right hand” (Isa 41:10). Hosea, too, shows by his very action of taking back his own unfaithful wife and loving her that God will do the same for His people. Daniel tells how this is done in practice as God remembers him and his companions in the midst of their trials as they remain faithful to him in the face of death. Jonah even reveals how God remembers the pagan Ninevites, reaches out to them, and has mercy when they repent. God has not forgotten. His love remains even in the midst of suffering. 
    
What is more, God promises through His prophets a time of restoration beyond the people’s wildest dreams. This restoration takes many forms throughout the prophetic books. Isaiah speaks of Immanuel, the king who will rule, the shoot and branch from David’s line (Isa 7, 9, 11) as well as the return of the remnant to Israel (Isa 11) and the in-gathering of the nations for an extended, eternal covenant that will go beyond anything they have ever known (Isa 60, 54, 56). Jeremiah, too, speaks of the righteous branch and a new covenant. God declares through him, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,” a covenant that will be written right in their hearts (Jer 31:31, 33). Ezekiel prophesies about the true shepherd who will come, and this is God Himself (Ez 34). He sees a vision of the dry bones come back to life through God’s Spirit (Ez 37) and the new Temple with its flowing river of life (Ez 40ff.). Daniel’s vision of the Son of Man before the Ancient of Days (Dan 7) and his prophecies of resurrection (Dan 12) add further detail, and Daniel even offers a timeline for the coming of this Son, this Messiah, this King Who will rule the whole world. Micah says that He will arise from Bethlehem (Mic 5). Malachai announces a messenger to prepare the way for the “sun of righteousness, with healing in its wings” (Mal 4:2). Zechariah points to the victory of the pierced one and the fountain that will open to cleanse the people (Zech 12-13). Joel speaks of the Spirit poured out “on all flesh” (Joel 2:28). In other words, God’s love will triumph. God’s love will reign. After the horrors of sin and the covenant curses, renewal will come, and it will be better than ever before. God has a plan for His people’s good, and it is a plan that will extend to the whole world. Israel, God’s first-born, will have siblings, lots of siblings, and God Himself will mysteriously come to His people in a whole new way.
    
We Christians know how this plays out. We know that Jesus has fulfilled the prophets, bringing the new covenant. We see God’s love in action among us. Yet the prophets still speak to us today, for we still sin. We still spurn God’s love. We still need warnings, for we must understand that our sins have consequences and our covenant comes with curses, too, curses that could mean eternal separation from God if we fail to repent of our sins and turn to Him. God does not change; He still loves, warns, punishes, forgives, and restores His people. We all experience this love, and the prophets help us understand it. Further, the prophets point well beyond their day, well beyond our day, to a final restoration that we still await. We can turn to the prophets for hope that God’s plans are still in place and still unfolding no matter how bad our world seems. For God loves us in many wonderful ways, and the prophets allow us to see that love in action both for the people of their day and for the Church right now, right here, God’s new covenant people.

Scripture Notes: The Message of the Prophets, Part 1

The prophets send many messages: doom and hope, destruction and restoration, warnings and reassurances. Sometimes these messages seem contradictory, complex, even overwhelming. But when we look for one thread to tie them together, one theme that binds up all these apparently conflicting communications, one overarching message that gives all the rest their meaning, we find nothing less than God’s infinite love. This love is expressed in many diverse ways throughout the prophets, and admittedly, some of the prophets’ words do not look or sound much like love, at least from a human perspective. Yet if we read the prophets with an open mind and an open heart, we soon see that they continually declare God’s love for His people, both for their own times and for ours.
    
God’s love shines forth when the prophets speak of the covenant God has made with His people, that family bond that makes Israel God’s first-born son and royal priestly household. In Hosea, for instance, God identifies Israel as both His wife, the one He chose and took to Himself, and His son, the infant He took into His arms and led with “cords of compassion” and “bands of love” and held up to His cheek and bent down to feed (Hos 11:3-4). This tender love appears in Ezekiel 16, too, when God describes His people as an abandoned child that He cared for and bound to Himself by covenant. 
    
What does Israel do in response to God’s great love? The people sin. They turn away to idols. They break the covenant. They follow their own paths and turn their backs on God. The prophets have the special task of calling out the people for their sins, of telling them straight that they are offending God. Ezekiel shows in chapter 16 how the bride of God turns into a harlot who chases after other lovers, the idols. He reveals in chapter 8 that idolatry has found its way right into God’s Temple where the priests and leaders worship the sun and other “gods.” Isaiah calls Israel an unfruitful vineyard that responds to God’s loving care with only “wild grapes” (Isa 5:2). Jeremiah declares God’s accusation toward His people, who have said that they will not serve him, that they will continue to go after their idols and deliberately spurn God’s law (Jer 2). They have become corrupt. Amos speaks of that corruption to the idolatrous northern kingdom that worships golden calves and combines their sacrifices to God with sacrifices to the Baals. Micah points out how the people are even unfaithful to each other, not behaving like a family but cheating and lying and treating each other with the greatest of injustice. God wants His people to be aware of what they are doing so that they can repent and change their hearts. He is offended, and His people are destroying themselves, and because He loves them, He wants to prevent that.

So God warns His people through His prophets. Punishment will come if they fail to repent. He is not threatening for the sake of threats; rather He is warning out of love. His people should be so much more, for they are His covenant family. Amos warns the northern kingdom of its coming doom. Micah warns both north and south. Isaiah makes it quite clear that Jerusalem will be destroyed if the people do not return to God (Isa 22). Jeremiah speaks of imminent invasion from Babylon as well as the fall of Jerusalem and captivity for the people (Jer 6, 21. 25). Habakkuk wonders why God has not punished His people sooner, but God assures Him that He is “doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Hab 1:5). The Babylonians will come and destroy Judah. In Zephaniah 1, God declares “I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem” because of their idol worship (Zeph 1:4). Even after the exile, God continues to warn His people to follow His laws, as in Malachai and Haggai. God even extends His warnings to the rest of the world through Isaiah (Isa 14, 34), Jeremiah (Jer 47ff.), Ezekiel (Ez 25ff.), and Nahum (against Nineveh). They, too, are His people, for He has created them, and while they are not in a covenant with Him, they are potential members of His covenant family whom He loves and whom He warns. They, too, must stop sinning.