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Genesis
and the other books of Moses (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy)
introduce the continuous story of Israel running through the first quarter of
the Bible. Genesis is traditionally attributed to Moses, the one who led the
people of Israel out of Egypt.
Genesis
explains how one nation comes to have a special role in God s plan for all of
humanity. Early on, the order and harmony of God s good creation are overwhelmed
by the destructive consequences of human rebellion and pride. The violence,
injustice and suffering that follow lead God to condemn and restrain human
wickedness through the judgment of the great flood. God then makes a covenant
with Abraham and his descendants, providing an ongoing framework for the story.
The family of Abraham Israel will be God s chosen means to bring the nations
back to himself. Genesis closes with Abraham s descendants having grown into a
league of large tribes, but they are not in the land God has promised them. So
the story leads naturally into the books that follow.
The book
is divided into twelve parts by eleven repetitions of the phrase this is the
account of. Each section is about the life and family of the person named.
These are woven together to document the story of human history and the
beginning of God s plan to restore humanity and their place in his world through
Israel.
Exodus Intro and Leviticus and Numbers Intro
The
books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers continue the story of how God formed the
nation of Israel to play a special role in his plans for the whole world. When
the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, God came to them and worked powerfully
through Moses to deliver them. At Mount Sinai, God revealed his laws to Moses,
including the Ten Commandments, and confirmed his covenant with the young
nation. Israel built a tabernacle, or tent of meeting, so that God could
live among them. The people then traveled through the wilderness to the land of
Canaan.
The
boundaries between the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers are not sharply
drawn. The key structure throughout the books relates to the various places the
Israelites stopped on their journey. Each location is noted, and the events at
each one are described. The key location is Mount Sinai; the second half of
Exodus, all of Leviticus, and the beginning of Numbers describe what took place
there. Leviticus specifically contains the laws and regulations the Lord gave
to Israel. Numbers reports how the people were organized into a fighting force
and moved toward the promised land.
Numbers
reaches back across Leviticus and Exodus and repeats the phrase that structures
Genesis: This is the account of the family of Aaron and Moses(Num. 3:1).
Appropriately, we hear this phrase for the twelfth time as the twelve tribes are
being organized into a nation. Near the end of Numbers the prophet Balaam says
to Israel, May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be
cursed.This recalls God s promise to Abraham in Genesis, I will bless
those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.These references
show that together these books tell a single story of the beginning of God s
redemptive work in the world.
The book
of Deuteronomy records the great speech Moses gives just before his death. He
addresses the generation of Israelites who grew up in the wilderness just as
they are preparing to enter the land of Canaan. God wants this promised land to
show what renewed life under God s blessing looks like. The book presents the
covenant in a form commonly used by rulers of the time to make treaties with
those they ruled over. The standard form of these treaties included five
elements:
: The
great ruler is identified by name and title.
: The
history and mighty acts of the great ruler are told.
: The
allegiance and specific duties expected of the ruler s servants are spelled out.
: Blessings for keeping the treaty and curses for breaking it are listed.
: Provisions for continuing the covenant with future generations are laid out.
Deuteronomy follows this pattern very closely. Moses is identified as the
representative of the Great King the God of Israel whose mighty acts for his
people are recalled. Moses reminds them to give exclusive allegiance to their
king and lists their duties. He then calls on the people to join in a sacred
oath to ratify the covenant. After naming a successor and climbing a mountain to
look out over the land, Moses dies. The people of Israel stand on the edge of
their inheritance, the promise of a new creation before them.
Joshua Intro and Judges Intro
The
books of Joshua and Judges tell the story of the early years of Israel as a
nation. They describe how the Israelites conquer and occupy the land of Canaan,
and then struggle to live up to their covenant with God. The Bible s drama here
moves to an important new stage God s people are in God s land. Yet it becomes
clear that the road to reconciliation between God and humanity will not be easy.
The
story describes the preparations and battles of Israel s invasion, as well as
how the land was divided among the tribes. Since pockets of resistance remained,
Joshua in his final speech urges each tribe to take full possession of its
territory. Next he leads the people to renew their commitment to the covenant
relationship with God.
Judges
then relates the troubling cycle of Israel s repeated covenant breaking, falling
under the rule of other nations, and then crying out to God for help. God
responds by raising up judges to fight for them and save them. But the relief
is temporary as Israel falls back into wrongdoing once again. ( Judges are both
military leaders and legal authorities.)
Just as
Israel was made up of twelve tribes, so the book tells of twelve judges. But as
the people persist in going their own way, we see that they have rejected their
true Judge and Ruler. As the anarchy and atrocities increase, Israel s need for
a king becomes more evident. By the end the questions are urgent: Can Israel
fulfill its destiny and calling to be God s light to the nations? Who can rule
Israel to help it find its proper role in the drama?
The
short book of Ruth is a bridge between the two major parts of Israel s covenant
history. The first part (Genesis Judges) focuses on how Abraham s descendants
became a nation and on the covenant God made with Israel. The second part
(Samuel Kings) tells the story of the nation s kings and the covenant God made
with David as the head of Israel s royal line. Ruth helps the transition by
opening in the days of the judges and ending with the genealogy of David.
The book
appears to have been written to defend David s right to be king. He was the
great-grandson of a Moabite named Ruth. Because the people of Moab didn t help
the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, the law didn t permit any descendant
of a Moabite to join Israel, down to the tenth generation. If they couldn t even
join the community, how could one of them serve as king?
The book
is set up like a drama or stage play. Each scene features a short introduction
and then dialogue between the characters. The book ends with a ten-generation
genealogy leading up to David. So the form of the book mirrors its purpose,
which is to show that genuine faith was present in a woman from a nation whose
descendants were normally excluded for ten generations.
The book
also shows how God s purposes are accomplished in the world. God s good laws
(allowing the poor to collect grain in the fields), his providence over events,
and the personal kindness of people all combine to help the story find a
redemptive conclusion.
1 &2 Samuel Intro and 1 & 2 Kings Intro
The
books commonly known as 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings are really one long book.
(They were separated due to the length of ancient scrolls.) Beginning with
Samuel, the last of the judges, this book describes what happened in the days of
the kings who ruled first the whole nation, and then the divided kingdoms of
Israel and Judah. The reigns of Saul and David are described in detail. The
repeating structure within the book tells how old a king was when he came to the
throne, where and for how long he ruled, and something about his character and
the notable events of his reign. (Some traditions call this book the Book of
Reigns. )
Beneath
this pattern of historical succession, however, another rhythm can be discerned.
Saul, the first king, does not follow God faithfully, and God announces he will
seek a man after his own heart to rule Israel. God finds this person in David.
He puts him on the throne, promising that his descendants will always rule
Israel if they continue to serve him. Unfortunately, the kings after David are
not committed to following God s way. Many of them abandon God and lead the
people to do the same, although a few of them call the people back to obedience.
Using David s wholehearted dedication to the Lord as
its standard, the book of Samuel-Kings traces the tragic wavering of the
people s devotion to God. Their covenant failure leads to the nation first being
divided and then later conquered by the powerful empires to the east.
The
Book of Reigns is therefore a tragic closing of the whole covenant history
that began in Genesis. Just as the first humans were exiled from God s garden,
now Israel is sent out of the new Eden God intended in the promised land. Land
and temple have been lost in the darkness of judgment, and only a flickering
light remains. The deeper purpose of God for Israel to bring blessing and
restoration to the nations seems to have been frustrated. But hope remains alive
in God s promise to bring a descendant of David back to the throne.
1 &2 Chronicles Intro and Ezra Intro and Nehemiah Intro
In the
fifth century BC, many Judeans were returning from exile to the southern part of
the land of Israel. They faced great difficulties: their capital city and temple
had been destroyed, foreigners had moved in, and they were no longer ruled by
their own king. But the books of Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah insist that God s
people can still fulfill his purpose. They must form a unique society centered
on the worship of God in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem. (These books are really
one long book, telling a continuous story; one can see, for example, how the end
of 2 Chronicles overlaps with the beginning of Ezra.)
The book
presents a sweeping chronicle of Israel s history, beginning with a long
genealogy or ancestor list. Going all the way back to Adam, it situates the
people of Israel among the nations and reminds them of their calling. Special
attention is given to Judah, ancestor of the royal line of David, and to Levi,
ancestor of the priests and temple attendants.
The
second main part describes the kings who ruled in Jerusalem down to the time of
the exile. David receives more attention than others, but many details of his
life told elsewhere are left out. The focus is on his military campaigns and his
elaborate plans for the temple in Jerusalem. The reason is clear when we see
that David was not permitted to build the temple because he was a warrior. God
wanted a man of peace to build the place where all nations would come to pray.
The honor therefore fell to David s son Solomon. More space is devoted to him
than to any king besides David, describing his construction of the temple and
the splendors of his reign.
The
final part of the book relates the experiences of the returned exiles. The
memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah, leaders of the second generation of returned
Judeans, are incorporated into the history. These leaders helped create a
distinct community by forbidding intermarriage with the surrounding peoples, and
they directed the rebuilding of Jerusalem s walls. Included here is a
description of a great covenant renewal ceremony led by Ezra and Nehemiah.
An
important theme of the entire history which can appropriately be called a temple
history is that pure worship is offered on God s terms, not ours. God has chosen
Israel to welcome the nations into true worship. Through all the ups and downs
of history he is working to bring this purpose to fulfillment.
The book
of Esther explains why Jews in the Persian period began celebrating a new
festival called Purim. The law of Moses had earlier described how God s mighty
acts of deliverance lay behind holidays such as Passover and Tabernacles. The
book of Esther shows how God intervened once again to save the Jews, leading to
a commemoration of this great rescue in the feast of Purim.
This
fast-moving story occurs during the reign of the Persian king Xerxes (most
likely Xerxes I, 486 465 BC). It relates the adventures that take place when a
Jewish exile named Esther and her cousin and guardian Mordecai work to rescue
their people from a plot to destroy them. While the story never mentions God by
name, God s hand of protection can be detected in the timing and combination of
events as they unfold.
The book
features numerous banquets, including two hosted by Xerxes at the beginning, two
given by Esther in the middle, and two celebrated by the grateful Jews at the
end. Since this story was told to later generations during the feast of Purim
itself, the audience is placed right in the middle of the action. Those who read
it can not only join in celebrating God s deliverance, they can ask themselves,
as Mordecai asked Esther, for what great purpose God may have brought them to
their own position in life.
The
wisdom of Proverbs describes how godly character generally leads to success.
Ecclesiastes tempers this, warning that rewards are not guaranteed, since a kind
of crookedness has come into our world. The book of Job goes further,
exploring how righteous people sometimes suffer. The book of Job uses a common
literary device from the wisdom traditions of the ancient world: an extended
conversation based on poetic speeches.
Job is
introduced as a good man. But the adversary (satanin Hebrew) points out
an apparent problem in God s moral oversight of the universe. If goodness is
always rewarded, how can we know if it s born from love of God or desire for
gain? So God allows the adversary to bring suffering into Job s life.
Job
doesn t curse God as the adversary predicted but ends up debating with three
friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. Their overly rigid view of the moral
universe convinces them that Job s own wrongdoing has caused his suffering. A
young man Elihu joins the conversation later, while Job continues to insist that
he has done nothing wrong and deserves a hearing before God.
Finally,
God reveals the power and wisdom shown in his oversight of creation. Job then
humbly admits his own limited understanding. When God rebukes Job s three
friends, we see they are guilty of a far worse assumption than Job. In the end
God blesses Job with twice as much as he had before. The book warns us to avoid
reducing God s moral rule to easy formulas.
The book
of Psalms is a collection of song lyrics. Like many songs, they were first
written in response to events in the lives of their authors. Later, the whole
community used them in worship. When Israel returned from exile in Babylon many
of the songs from over the centuries were collected in the book of Psalms.
The book
is structured into five parts marked off by the phrase, Praise be to the Lord
Amen and Amen!These five books remind the reader of the five books of
Moses. Like the law, these song lyrics can be read and studied for instruction.
Psalm 1 emphasizes such meditation and seems to have been placed first to make
this point.
The five
books also tell a three-part story of Israel s redemption: monarchy, exile and
return. The psalms of King David dominate books one and two. The beginning and
ending of book three highlight Israel s exile. The fourth book ends with a plea
that God bring the exiled people home. The fifth book declares that God has done
just that. Now the reason for the group of praise psalms at the end of the book
is apparent: God has been faithful, judging Israel in exile but then bringing
the nation home again.
The book
of Psalms thus operates at two levels: individually the songs explore a wide
variety of honest spiritual responses to God, while the overall collection
tells, and celebrates, the work of
God in history to save his people.
Israel
understood that the Creator had placed an order in his world that could be
discovered. The book of Proverbs captures these lessons in compact, memorable
sayings passed down from the wisest among their elders. Many of them are from
Solomon, a king renowned for his wisdom (see 1 Kings 4:29-34). These proverbs
are especially designed to help younger people avoid common pitfalls and find
the path to prosperity, health and security.
After a
short section of teaching, wisdom itself, personified as a woman, calls out to
the simple and invites them to grow in knowledge. This section ends by
presenting two banquets, one hosted by Wisdom and one by Folly, illustrating the
essential choice to be made in life. A collection of 375 proverbs of Solomon
follows, reflecting the numerical value of his name in Hebrew. (Hebrew letters
were also used as numbers, so words had a value equal to the sum of their
letters.) After some sayings of the wise, next is a collection of Solomon s
wisdom compiled by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Here the count is 130,
equaling the value of Hezekiah s name. The book closes with sayings from Agur
and Lemuel, ending with a poem whose 22 parts begin with consecutive letters of
the Hebrew alphabet. The character qualities praised throughout the book are
seen in a description of the ideal wife.
This
rich book of short, pithy wisdom presents a consistent theme: the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of
knowledge.
Ecclesiastes is the collected words of a teacher or preacher. The Teacher is
described as having been king over Israel in Jerusalem, and as the son of David.
Both of these mean that he was in the royal line of Judah. He is not further
identified, and while tradition identifies him with Solomon, it is appropriate
to leave this cloak of anonymity in place.
The
repeated phraseMeaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!warns
us that life s rewards are uncertain and ultimately unsatisfying. The Teacher
pursues this insight in a long discourse that shifts between prose and poetry,
and between autobiography and straightforward teaching. The book makes
observations and poses questions, returning to themes like the wind round
and round it goes, ever returning on its course.
When the
Teacher says What is crooked cannot be straightened,he reminds us that
something wrong has intruded into our world. This fits the larger Jewish story
told in the rest of the Scriptures. Setting things right again is what this
bigger drama is about. The Teacher, however, does not tell us about God s
attempts at straightening the world. He is content to say that God is sovereign
over all things and it is our duty to follow his ways for living, since God
will bring every deed into judgment.
Traditional wedding celebrations in the Middle East cast the bride and groom in
the roles of a king and his queen. The festivities include love songs and also
special songs that praise the physical beauty of the bride or the handsomeness
of the groom. The custom has a long history and is reflected in the anthology of
wedding songs we know as the Song of Songs. The individual songs may have been
used repeatedly in marriage celebrations and eventually gathered together, just
as the psalms were collected after years of use in worship. The title Solomon s
Song of Songs can be taken to mean that King Solomon, a renowned composer (see 1
Kings 4:29-34), was the author of its songs. However, it could also be a
reference to Solomon as the kind of glorious king the groom represents.
The
songs are arranged to tell the courtship story of a man and woman, of their
marriage (described as a royal wedding) and its consummation, and of the
beginning of their new life together. After a short introduction the book
presents six episodes, each typically ending with a reference to the friends of
the man and woman. This may refer to others attending the wedding to join in the
celebration. Together the songs celebrate the delights of married love and the
beauty of the human body, using vivid imagery from the natural world to show
that these things are part of the creation that God declared very good.
The
prophet Isaiah addressed the kingdom of Judah for forty years, beginning in the
year that King Uzziah died (around 740 BC) and continuing at least to the
Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC. As with all the prophets, Isaiah based
his message on the deep covenant bond between God and his people Israel.
Prophets typically delivered their messages by composing oracles poetic speeches
they recited in public. Unlike some other prophets, Isaiah had personal access
to the kings of his day. He was able to bring godly counsel to kings Ahaz and
Hezekiah when the powerful Assyrian Empire threatened the life of the nation.
Isaiah maintains an international perspective throughout his book, revealing
that Israel s life is bound up with the affairs of the broader world.
Isaiah
urges the people to care for the poor and needy, commit to follow God s ways,
and pursue social and economic justice. In typical prophetic pattern, he speaks
of coming judgment because of Israel s failure, but also of promised
restoration, and moving from Israel to the wider world. God s correction is in
the service of renewal. Isaiah s later oracles introduce the complex figure of
the servant, whose personal sacrifice brings healing. These servant songs fit
into the bigger picture of Israel s return from exile, the Lord s
return to his people, and the nations turning to God. New Testament writers will
turn to Isaiah often to explain how Israel s ancient commission to bring
blessing to the world was fulfilled.
The
prophet Jeremiah spoke to the kingdom of Judah for forty years from the end of
the Assyrian period until Judah was destroyed by Babylon. The book mixes
sermons, prophetic oracles, and biographical narratives of Jeremiah s
experiences during the last years of the Judean kingdom. We are given an
intimate look into the prophet s own heart as he brings God s message to his
fellow Judeans, who reject him and even conspire to kill him.
The book
begins and ends with historical references to the event Jeremiah was best known
for predicting: the fall of Jerusalem. The four main parts generally consist (in
order) of oracles, narratives (two sections), and then oracles. Significantly,
each of these four parts ends with a reference to Jeremiah s words being written
in a book or scroll. A long poetic oracle is inserted in the middle narrative of
the book. So Jeremiah s prophecies appear at the beginning, middle and end of
the book, highlighting their importance. The middle oracle, promising a new
covenant designed to change the human heart, is shown to be the most important
of all. God will do more than simply punish evil he will overcome it with good.
The book
of Jeremiah carries us back and forth in place and time as we turn its pages,
yet its themes are consistent. The message of judgment for wrongdoing is
followed by the restorative power of forgiveness and new life: to uproot and
tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.
When the
Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and deported much of its population, some
residents were left behind in terrible conditions in and around the shattered
city. To express their deep shame and grief over the destruction of their home,
they wrote songs about its desolation and about the sufferings they were
witnessing and experiencing. The book of Lamentations does not tell us who wrote
these songs, although tradition ascribes them to Jeremiah. Here we witness
people of faith putting into words their struggle to understand how God could
have allowed the city they loved to be so devastated.
Each of
the five songs preserved in the book has 22 stanzas. The first four songs begin
with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in consecutive order. In the third
song the letters are repeated at the start of each of the three lines in the
stanza. There are few expressions of hope, but they are placed in the center of
the book to give them extra prominence in a situation where they are badly
needed. Overall, this collection of laments reminds us that expressing anguish
over a broken, fallen world is a legitimate part of the biblical drama.
The
priest Ezekiel was among the Judeans that Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon in
597 BC. Five years into this exile, God called Ezekiel to go to Israel (both
those in Babylon and those back in Judea) and speak my words to them.Ezekiel
often brought this message by composing finely polished poetic oracles and
speaking (or perhaps singing) them in public. But he also told stories with
symbolic meanings, performed symbolic actions, and described extraordinary
visions that he had received.
The book
of Ezekiel organizes these messages into three main parts: oracles of judgment
against Israel, oracles against other nations, and then promises of Israel s
restoration. These divisions are marked by references to the prophet losing and
then regaining his ability to speak. A key vision near the beginning describes
how God removed his presence from the Jerusalem temple because of Israel s evil.
The oracles against the nations make it clear that though God s temple was
destroyed, no one should conclude that God is not still in control of the world.
Those who threaten his people will be defeated in the end. The book s closing
promises confirm that God will renew the hearts of his people and refresh all
life on the face of the earth. Ezekiel s visions fit the ongoing drama of the
Bible: a broken world will be healed when the Lord returns
to live with his people in a land that has become like the garden of Eden.
The book
of Daniel combines two types of literature: court narrative and apocalypse. The
opening narrative section presents six stories of how God protected and promoted
four young men who were taken into exile in Babylon. When Daniel and his friends
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego demonstrate their faithfulness to God, they are
delivered from deadly perils by God s mighty acts. Daniel was given the ability
to interpret dreams, earning him a valued place in the royal court of Babylon,
and later in the Persian Empire.
The
second part of the book describes visions and messages Daniel received from God
through angelic messengers. These visions are presented in the cryptic language
and symbolic terms typical of apocalyptic literature. Within them we see the
outlines of Near Eastern history: the empires of Babylon and Persia; the
conquests of Alexander the Great; and the ongoing strife between the Ptolemys in
Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria. The visions anticipate an arrogant ruler, the
Seleucid emperor Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who desecrated the Jerusalem temple in
167 BC. This led to the Maccabean revolt, which restored the nation s
independence and preserved the worship of Israel s God.
The
visions in Daniel can also be understood to reveal the conditions at the end of
the present age, showing it to be a time of definitive conflict between God s
people and their enemies. The people of God will be sustained through their
persecutions knowing they will receive the kingdom.
The
prophet Hosea spoke to the northern kingdom of Israel in the turbulent period of
the 8thcentury BC. Following the death of Jeroboam II, Israel had six different
kings in just over twenty years; four were assassinated and the last was
forcibly removed from the throne. The rising empire of Assyria invaded Israel,
and by 722 BC had completely conquered the nation and carried off much of its
population into exile.
Israel
had made the mistake of identifying the Lord with
Baal, a Canaanite nature god. This identification may have begun innocently
enough, since baalsimply means master. But by the time of Hosea, the
people were visiting shrine prostitutes, and had adopted the magical practices
of fertility cults. Hosea repeatedly denounces this corrupted worship as
spiritual prostitution. He also condemns the nation s foolish foreign intrigues,
its rejection of the moral law, and its callous greed. The people dismissed
Hosea s warnings, however, and simply mocked him.
The book
is structured into two main parts. The shorter first part tells how God
commanded Hosea to marry the unfaithful woman Gomer. She is symbolic of Israel s
wavering faithfulness to the Lord.
The prophet s own life thus provided a picture of God s intentions toward
wayward Israel. The longer second part contains oracles delivered during the
decline after King Jeroboam, alternating hope and doom as Hosea both threatens
and pleads with the kingdom of Israel in the last years before its exile.
The
exact date of the book of Joel is difficult to know, since it does not refer to
the reign of any particular king. The specific occasion of the book, however, is
very clear and Joel uses this occasion to deliver a powerful spiritual message.
The book
begins by graphically describing how a swarm of locusts has overrun the land of
Judah and eaten everything in sight. After calling for the people to repent in
response to this disaster, the book offers a detailed description of the locust
swarm itself. The locusts are like an invading army, with God at their head.
Joel asserts that the day of the Lord a
day of judgment has come. He renews his call for repentance through fasting,
community prayer and heartfelt contrition. In response, he promises that God
will not only drive the locusts away, but restore more than they have devoured.
He foretells God s defeat of all the nations that oppose his people, and how God
will pour out his Spirit on the survivors in Judah. If the people return to the Lord with
all of their hearts, they will see the return of their prosperity when the day
of the Lord arrives.
The
northern kingdom of Israel reached its greatest heights in the first half of the
8thcentury BC (2 Kings 14:23-25), during the forty-one-year reign of the
powerful Jeroboam II. Confident in their nation s victories, their worship, and
their heritage, the people adopted the motto, God is with us! They were
anticipating the day of the Lord,when
God would strike down all their enemies and establish Israel as the undisputed
ruler of the region.
Into
this atmosphere of overconfident nationalism steps Amos, a shepherd from the
southern kingdom of Judah. He stands in the great royal temple at Bethel and
announces that God is stirring up a nation to conquer Israel. The day of the Lord,he
insisted, will be darkness, not light.God isn t impressed with Israel s
wealth, military might, or self-indulgent way of life. He is looking for
justice, while the rich and powerful are taking advantage of the poor. God is
calling Israel to repentance as the only way to avoid destruction.
The
message causes an uproar. Amaziah, the high priest at Bethel, accuses Amos of
treason. Amos is banished from the kingdom, but his oracles are recorded,
creating one of the earliest collections we have from any Hebrew prophet. The
book consists of roughly three dozen separate oracles, plus the story of his
expulsion. Most of the book is loosely assembled, but it conveys one strong and
consistent message: Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a
never-failing stream!
When
Judah s capital city of Jerusalem fell to the Babylonian army in 587/6 BC, those
in the neighboring kingdom of Edom joined in looting the city. They intercepted
fleeing Judeans and turned them over to the Babylonians to be executed or
enslaved. They showed no compassion even though they were related to the
Judeans. Edom was descended from Esau, the brother of Jacob, who was the
ancestor of the Israelites.
The
prophet Obadiah seems to have been among those who remained behind when the
Judeans were taken into exile. His oracle first rebukes the Edomites for their
ruthless treatment of their helpless neighbors and foretells their destruction.
He then assures the people of his community that God would restore their
fortunes. He assures Judah that in the end, the kingdom will be the Lord's.
The book
relates how the word of the Lord came
to Jonah, a prophet during the reign of Jeroboam II in the 8thcentury BC. It is
unique among prophetic books in focusing on a story about a prophet rather than
a collection of oracles. The book contains only a single sentence of prophecy.
The
story concerns God s call to Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh of its coming
destruction. The book is structured into two main acts with two scenes each. The
repetition of God s command to Go to the great city of Ninevehmarks the
beginning of each act. The first scene is set on a ship as Jonah tries to avoid
his mission. The second scene takes place in the belly of a huge fish which has
swallowed Jonah. In the second act both scenes are associated with Nineveh
itself, the first within the city as Jonah preaches and Nineveh repents, the
second just outside the city as Jonah struggles with God s mercy.
Jonah s
role in the book is to represent the attitude of many in Israel toward other
nations. Instead of accepting their own calling to help these nations come to
know the true God, they considered them enemies and expected God to destroy
them. The book teaches that God s love extends beyond Israel to other nations,
indeed, to the whole creation. God s final question to Jonah is intended for all
the book s readers.
The
prophet Micah speaks to the southern kingdom of Judah during the reigns of
Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (late 8thcentury BC). He foresees that Samaria and
Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel and Judah, will be destroyed because of
their injustice and corrupt religion. The people have abandoned the covenant God
made with them, taking up the pagan religious practices of the Canaanites. The
rich and powerful are ruthlessly exploiting the poor, ignoring the law of Moses.
Micah warns that in punishment for their unfaithfulness and injustice, both
kingdoms will be invaded, conquered and exiled. As he predicts, Samaria falls to
the Assyrians in 722 BC and Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians in 587/6 BC.
Micah s
prophecies alternate between warnings of destruction and promises of
restoration. Each of Micah s three groups of oracles begins with a series of
judgments, and then concludes with promises of restoration. Micah proclaims that
in compassion and covenant faithfulness God will save a remnant of the people
and bring them back to their own land. There they will be ruled by a righteous
king and become a light to the whole world, pointing all nations to the ways of
the Lord. God will help Israel
find its place in the biblical drama.
In 612
BC the Assyrian Empire was nearing collapse. Its capital Nineveh was about to
fall before a combined invasion of Babylonian, Medean and Scythian forces. But
those living in the nations that Assyria had cruelly oppressed felt little pity.
In their view, the Assyrians were simply getting a long-overdue taste of their
own medicine. The prophet Nahum echoes these thoughts on behalf of the people of
Judah. He situates this event within the context of God s rule over all kingdoms
on earth. God will judge the Assyrians, even though he had used them as his own
instrument, because they were excessively destructive and proud.
Nahum s
oracle describes God s character and power, announcing God s purpose to judge
Assyria. Words of comfort to Judah alternate with words of doom to Nineveh. The
defense of the Assyrian capital will prove futile and the city will be
plundered, confirming God s judgment.
Near the
time of the transition from the Assyrian to the Babylonian empires (late
7thcentury BC), the prophet Habakkuk engaged in a profound dialogue with
Israel s God. The form of his book is a short series of complaints, or laments,
followed by the divine responses. When Habakkuk s cries are answered, he closes
with a hymn of confidence in God s expected victory.
The
prophet begins by asking how long God will allow evil to triumph. The divine
reply is that God is raising up the Babylonians as his tool of correction. This
leads to Habakkuk s second question: Why do you allow the wicked to swallow
up those more righteous than themselves? God replies again, explaining that
the Babylonians will be judged just like the Assyrians, and that the righteous
must await this in faith and patience. The inevitability of Babylon s doom is
emphasized when God pronounces a series of five woes against it.
When
Habakkuk s dialogue with God concludes, the book moves to what is called A
prayer of Habakkuk. But its musical notations reveal that it is clearly
meant to be sung. Habakkuk celebrates God s dramatic intervention for Israel in
the past and prays that God will do it again. The prophet resolves in the
meantime to wait patiently for God s coming.
The
reign of King Manasseh of Judah was the time of greatest corruption, injustice
and paganism in Judah s history. But Manasseh s grandson King Josiah reasserted
the nation s faith and obedience to God and its independence from foreign
empires. One reason for this seems to be that a member of his court stood up and
warned that Judah s breaking of the covenant had led it to the brink of
destruction. The person who offered this warning was the prophet Zephaniah.
The
book s prologue identifies Zephaniah as the great-great-grandson of Hezekiah. No
other prophet s ancestry is traced back four generations, so this seems intended
to associate Zephaniah with the great reforming king of Judah. It is likely that
Zephaniah was of royal blood, since he was familiar with particular districts in
Jerusalem and with specific activities in the capital.
This
collection of prophecies has three main parts. First is a description of the
day of the Lord that is coming
against Judah and Jerusalem. Next is a call for national repentance, along with
oracles of destruction against the Philistines, Moabites, Cushites (Ethiopians),
Assyrians and Jerusalem itself. In the final section, Zephaniah promises that
God will restore a humble remnant when he returns as a Mighty Warrior among his
people.
When
Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Babylon in 539 BC, he allowed the exiled Jews
to return home and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. One group returned the next
year, completing and dedicating the temple foundation within two more years. But
they were stopped by suspicious and resentful neighbors who had influence in the
Persian court (see Ezra 4:4 6:22). Sixteen years later, when King Darius takes
the throne, the prophet Haggai urges the people to restart their work. He calls
specifically on Zerubbabel, the appointed governor, and Joshua the high priest,
to lead the project. Within four years the reconstruction was completed and
worship in the temple resumed.
Haggai
delivers his four messages during a strategic four-month period at the beginning
of Darius reign. The first message explains that Israel s crops aren t being
blessed because God s house has been left in ruins. The second message gives
encouragement to those who found the new temple disappointing compared to
Solomon s original temple. God promises that its glory will outshine the first
temple. The third message assures the people that from now on their crops will
be blessed. The final message is a personal encouragement to Zerubbabel himself,
the heir to the throne of David. The people are back in their land, and so is
God s blessing.
The
prophet Zechariah brought his messages to the returned exiles of Judah beginning
in the second year of King Darius of Persia (520 BC). The book has two main
parts. The first contains two sequences of prophecies, primarily in the form of
symbolic vision reports. The second main part is made up mostly of poetic
oracles concerned with the nation s leaders.
After a
general call to repentance, Zechariah records a series of eight visions to
encourage the people in rebuilding the temple. The first and last describe four
differently colored horses and their riders sent over the earth. The second and
third visions show that hostile foreign powers no longer threaten the country.
The sixth and seventh visions report the removal of the people s sins. The two
central visions depict God establishing Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel
the governor. The overall message is that God has everything in place for the
rebuilding project.
The
second sequence of prophecies has six parts. Ever since the disaster of the
exile and the temple s destruction, the people had been fasting at certain times
of the year. The messages here urge the people to practice justice as the true
form of fasting and to focus on rebuilding. Then Zechariah announces that all
their fasts will become joyful celebrations.
The
book s final section predicts that after the people suffer under bad shepherds,
God will send a righteous king from David s line. The Lord will
triumph over every enemy and be king over the whole earth.
The
rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel and Joshua, inspired by the prophecies
of Haggai and Zechariah, was completed in 516 BC. The new temple was meant to be
the centerpiece of a community in which there was true justice and genuine
worship. In this way Israel could fulfill its calling and be a light, revealing
God to the nations.
Unfortunately, as the years went by, the people fell further and further away
from this ideal. By the middle of the next century, their worship had become
corrupt, and their society was plagued with injustice. Malachi ( my messenger )
challenges the people to honor God properly in their worship and in their
dealings with one another. The world could then come to know the Lord as
the great king.
Malachi
brings his challenges in a distinctive style. He first offers an abrupt charge,
voices the anticipated objections, and finally answers those objections. The
book records that some of the people repent in response to these challenges, and
that God says he will spare them when he comes to judge the earth. The book ends
with God s promise to send the prophet Elijah back before that great and
dreadful day of the Lord.
Matthew s purpose is to show that God has kept his ancient promises to Israel
through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. The long-expected
reign of heaven is now coming to earth, bringing the Jewish story to its climax.
Matthew begins by highlighting that Jesus was the son of David, Israel s most
famous king, and the son of Abraham, Israel s founding patriarch. Jesus is the
true Israelite and God s promised Messiah.
The
Messiah is shown as reliving the story of Israel going down into the Jordan
River, facing temptation in the wilderness, gathering twelve disciples as twelve
new tribes, ascending a mountain to deliver a new Torah, etc. The author
highlights the idea of Jesus as a new Moses by collecting his teachings into
five long speeches. These are marked off by some variation of the phrase When
Jesus had finished saying these things.Just as the Torah had five books,
Matthew presents five major sections.
The book
concludes by telling how Jesus brought about the great new act of redemption for
his people. As in the story of Israel s Exodus, a Passover meal is celebrated
and then deliverance comes. Jesus gives his life for the sake of the world and
is then raised from the dead. At the beginning of the book, Jesus is given the
name Immanuel, meaning God with us. At the end, Jesus sends his
followers into the world with the promise that surely I am with you always.
Mark
appears to be written for an audience in Rome. A Roman centurion s declaration
near the end of the book Surely this man was the Son of God! models the
witness to Jesus this gospel calls for.
The
opening half of this fast-moving drama keys on the question: Who do you say I
am?An episode at the end of the first half shows Jesus healing a blind man
in two stages, so that he slowly comes to see. In the same way the disciples
have only gradually come to recognize who Jesus is. Then in a key moment in the
story, between its two halves, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah.
Now the
conflict moves out into the open. Jesus has come to introduce a radical new way
of life that will undercut existing power relationships. The second half of the
drama depicts this in three acts:
: First,
Jesus and his disciples travel to Jerusalem.
: Next,
Jesus teaches in the temple and clashes with the established leadership.
: In the
final act, that leadership executes its plan and has Jesus arrested and
crucified, seemingly overturning all he has done. But then God overturns their
deed and raises Jesus to life. So Mark s readers are called to be faithful to
Jesus, even in suffering, because this is how God continues to overturn the
existing order and establish the way of life that Jesus taught.
The
books of Luke and Acts are two volumes of a single work (see the Invitation
to Actsfor a more detailed introduction to Acts). Together they tell the story
of how God first invited the people of Israel, and then all nations, to follow
Jesus. In the first volume, the movement is toward Jerusalem, the center of
Jewish national life. In the second, the movement is from Jerusalem to other
nations, closing with Paul proclaiming the kingdom of God in Rome, the capital
of the empire.
Luke
addresses his history to most excellent Theophilus,most likely a Roman
official. His volumes are stocked with details from sources Luke had available:
letters, speeches, songs, travel accounts, trial transcripts and biographical
anecdotes. Luke s purpose is to show the fulfillment of God s plan to bring his
light to the world through Israel. The earliest Jesus-followers take up this
calling by announcing Jesus victory over sin and death to all the nations.
The
first volume, Luke s telling of the story of Jesus, has three main sections:
: First,
Jesus ministers in Galilee, the northern area of the land of Israel.
: Next,
he takes a long journey to Jerusalem, during which he welcomes people into the
way of God s reign and challenges Israel s current understanding of the kingdom.
: Third,
Luke tells how Jesus gives his life in Jerusalem and then rises from the dead to
be revealed as Israel s King and the world s true Lord.
John
closes his book by revealing his purpose in writing Jesus story: These are
written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that
by believing you may have life in his name.
John
begins his book by echoing words from the Bible s creation story In the
beginning showing his readers that this is a story of a new creation. Just
as the first creation was completed in seven days, John uses the number seven to
structure his book. For the Jews the number seven represented completeness and
wholeness, a finished work of God revealing his purpose for the world.
The
story is told in two main parts. The first describes Jesus public ministry and
has seven sections. Each section closes with a report on how people respond to
Jesus, either in faith or unbelief. The second part is devoted to the Passover
weekend, when Jesus gave his life for the world.
John
records seven instances in which Jesus revealed his identity by using the
phrase I am, the name by which God had revealed himself earlier.
Similarly, John records seven miraculous signs that Jesus performed. John s
narrative mentions twice that the resurrection of Jesus took place on thefirst
day of the week.In this way he confirms that the power of a new creation has
broken into our world.
Luke s
second volume is known as the book of Acts (see the Invitation to Luke Acts for
more detailed information on the Gospel of Luke). The six parts of the book of
Acts each describe a new phase in the expansion of the Messiah-following
movement outward from Jerusalem. These sections are all marked by variations on
the phrase theword of God continued to spread and flourish:
: First,
the church is established in Jerusalem and becomes Greek-speaking, allowing it
to spread its message throughout the empire.
: Next,
the movement expands into the rest of Palestine.
: Third,
Gentiles are included in the gathering of Jesus-followers alongside Jews.
: Fourth, messengers are sent west into the Roman province of Asia.
: Fifth,
these messengers enter Europe.
: In the
sixth and final phase, the movement reaches the capital city of Rome and into
the highest levels of society; God s kingdom is thus announced to all nations.
Addressing the believers in Rome, Paul writes what is most likely the meatiest
missionary fundraising letter ever written. To Jesus-followers living directly
under the shadow of Caesar, he is appealing for help to bring the gospel to the
western part of the empire. As an apostle, Paul has been set apart to make the
royal announcement about the Lordship of Jesus. God s plan for the world has
been revealed through a descendant of king David Jesus the Messiah. This message
demonstrates that God has been faithful to his covenant with Israel.
The flow
of the letter follows the pattern of the ancient Jewish story of slavery and
rescue. Humanity is in exile due to the entrance of sin and death into the
world. Even the Jewish law could not defeat death and bring life. But God has
come to rescue both Jews and Gentiles through the death and resurrection of
Jesus. A new worldwide family is being created. Baptism into Jesus breaks the
power of evil and brings freedom. The Holy Spirit leads the way into this new
life that will be complete in a new inheritance a redeemed creation.
Although
many in Israel had failed to believe in the Messiah, this ended up bringing life
to the rest of the world. The offer of life through Jesus remains for all,
however, and in the end God s mercy will triumph over judgment. The closing
emphasis is on the practical shape of a redeemed humanity s new way of life.
The book
of Acts describes how Paul brought the royal news about Jesus the Messiah to
Macedonia (northern Greece), but then had to flee to Achaia (southern Greece)
for his own safety. He visited the city of Corinth there, a wealthy and
cosmopolitan commercial center. Many people became believers, so he stayed for a
year and a half to teach them.
After he
left, the Corinthians wrote to Paul (in a letter we no longer have) with some
key questions. The Corinthians had adopted the common Greek idea that physical
things are bad, so they wanted to free the human spirit from the body. This
affected the way they saw such things as marriage, attendance at ceremonial
meals for pagan gods, and even the resurrection of Jesus. In the letter we know
as 1 Corinthians Paul addresses all of these concerns, as well as questions
about worship.
Paul
writes that this world in its present form is passing away,but the
Corinthians can give themselves fully to the work of the Lordsince their labor
in the Lord is not in vain.The coming resurrection of the dead, and the new
world that will accompany it, will show the value of all their current efforts.
Paul s practical advice for how to consistently embody the new life of God s
kingdom during a particular scene in the biblical drama gives us great insight
as we seek to take up our roles today.
Paul s
first letter to the believers in Corinth gives us a glimpse into his deeply
personal and tumultuous relationship with this gathering of Jesus-followers. The
letter we know as 2 Corinthians further reveals the triumphs and struggles that
result when life in the present age meets up with the in-breaking reality of
God s kingdom. Here we see Paul working to repair relationships, explain various
changes in travel plans, make practical arrangements for collecting a gift for
the struggling believers in Jerusalem, and directly confront challenges to his
own leadership by the self-proclaimed super-apostles.
In the
four main parts of the letter, each introduced by a reference to a place, Paul
envisions himself in different locations, recalling or anticipating his
relationship with the Corinthians. The single theme running through these
sections is that God will comfort us in all our troubles, and we will offer this
comfort to each other. This models the life of Jesus himself, who suffered first
and then was comforted. Like the crucified Messiah, we are weak, yet we live in
God s power.
In the
final section, however, Paul feels he has no choice but to make the Corinthians
uncomfortable, to help them face their present condition. But he ends the letter
hopefully, calling on them to rejoice in God s grace, love and fellowship.
Galatia
was a Roman province in central Asia Minor. Paul traveled here on each of the
three journeys he made to spread the message about Jesus. The Galatians received
both Paul and his gospel announcement warmly. But later some people Paul calls agitatorscame
and challenged Paul s leadership as well as the foundation of his teaching. So
Paul wrote to answer the threat to his status as an apostle and to reaffirm the
core message that faith in the Messiah is the basis of membership in God s new
community.
Paul
doesn t open his letter by appealing to the apostles in Jerusalem. Instead, he
insists that the gospel I preached is not of human origin rather, I
received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.Paul is compelled to share this
revelation, and he notes that the other apostles support him.
Paul
then proceeds to his main argument, which is that Gentiles who have become
followers of Jesus do not need to be circumcised. The new worldwide family which
had been promised to Abraham is created by faith in Messiah Jesus, not by
keeping the Jewish law (Torah). The biblical story had been pointing to this all
along.
But if
following Torah is not the basis of the gospel, won t there be anarchy? Paul
answers by describing what Spirit-empowered life looks like in the community of
Messiah-followers. Paul closes by emphasizing the main theme of his letter once
more: Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is
the new creation.
Traditionally named Ephesians, this letter may not actually have been written to
the believers in Ephesus. Some of the best early copies of the letter don t
include the phrase in Ephesusin the greeting. While Paul spent two years
in Ephesus, this letter appears to address people Paul has never met.
Paul
here presents a two-fold pattern, first explaining the new identity believers
have in Christ and then bringing out the implications for their new way of life.
God has brought everything together under the rule of the Messiah, exalting
Jesus above all things. Paul echoes a phrase from Psalm 8 God placed all
things under his feet to show that Jesus is the truly human one. Jesus
fulfills the original human calling to rule over the creation properly. Jews and
Gentiles have been brought together into one body, with Jesus at the head. God
is now creating one new humanityfrom all over the world through the
reconciling work of the Messiah.
This
means Jesus-followers must give up their former way of life and practice purity
in daily living and integrity in their relationships. The reciprocal
responsibilities of those in and under authority are used as key examples of the
new kinds of relationships God is expecting. Paul cautions his readers that they
are entering a spiritual battle. They must arm themselves with all the resources
God has provided, until the Messiah brings unity to all things in heaven and
on earth.
On his
second journey to bring the gospel to the Gentile world, the apostle Paul helped
start a church in the city of Philippi (see Acts 16:11-40), a colony of retired
Roman soldiers. The Philippians became Paul s friends and supporters for the
rest of his life. When they heard that he was in Rome as a prisoner, they
collected money to assist him and sent it with one of their members, a man named
Epaphroditus. Later Paul sent him back with a letter to thank the Philippians
for their friendship and support.
Paul
knows the Philippians were experiencing a lot of opposition, so he appeals to
his own life as an example of how to respond to hardship with joy. Throughout
the whole palace guard that is, right in the center of Caesar s realm Paul
is boldly making the royal announcement that Jesus is Lord. Paul s desire is
that the Philippians will gain the same confidence and dare all the more to
proclaim the gospel without fear.
In an
amazing hymn, Paul urges the Philippians to have the servant attitude that Jesus
had. He did not grasp his high position but humbled himself even to the point of
death all for the sake of others. This is the new way to be human that is
revealed in God s kingdom. Our citizenship is in God s realm and so we eagerly
await the Savior s return to us. Then he will transform our lowly bodies to
become like his glorious resurrected body.
While
Paul was in prison in Rome, awaiting his upcoming trial before Caesar, one of
the letters he wrote was to the gathering of believers in the city of Colossae.
Paul had never met them, but they knew who he was and respected his leadership.
Paul had worked with a man named Epaphras when he was in Ephesus. Epaphras was
originally from Colossae, about 100 miles to the east. Paul sent him to bring
the good news about Jesus to his city and to two other nearby cities, Laodicea
and Hierapolis. Epaphras was later arrested and brought to Rome as a prisoner
himself. Paul learned from him what was happening in those cities.
The
Colossians were mostly Gentiles, but like the Galatians they were being
pressured to follow the Jewish law and were adding extra rules and false
teachings to the faith. Some of them were priding themselves on having visions
and getting secret spiritual knowledge. So Paul wrote them a letter to say,
When you ve got Jesus the Messiah, you ve got it all!
Paul
emphasizes that all things in heaven and earth were created by the Son and were
reconciled to God by the Son s death on the cross. Christ possesses the fullness
of God s being. Since the Colossians have been brought into the new kingdom of
light, they can live their faith to the fullest. They are toput on the new
self,awaiting the time the Messiah will appear openly, revealing his glory.
Around
AD 51, Paul, Silas and Timothy brought the message about Jesus the Messiah to
the city of Thessalonica. Many people became believers, but there was a riot
when Paul and Silas were accused of defying Caesar s decrees, saying that
there is another king, one called Jesus(see Acts 17:1-9). They narrowly
escaped with their lives and had to flee.
A little
later Paul became concerned that the believers in Thessalonica might fall away
from the faith due to the opposition they were facing. So he sent Timothy to
encourage them (as a Greek he could make the trip more safely). When Timothy
returned to Achaia with the welcome news that the Thessalonians had remained
faithful, Paul wrote to express his joy.
In this
short letter, Paul first recalls his time in Thessalonica and gives thanks for
their continuing faith, despite trials and challenges. He teaches them to avoid
sexual immorality, to love one another sincerely, and to work hard to earn their
own living.
Paul
then addresses a key pastoral question: What is the Christian hope for those who
have died? He explains that believers who die before the royal appearance of the
Messiah are not lost, but will surely be raised from the dead when he comes. He
reminds the Thessalonians that Jesus will appear suddenly and unexpectedly. They
should therefore live in such a way that they would be unashamed to greet him.
Throughout the letter Paul s basic message is, Keep up the good work!
Apparently only shortly after writing his first letter to the Thessalonians,
Paul had to write again to correct a false report that he had said the day of
the Lord had already come. The day of the Lordwas a phrase from the
Hebrew prophets to describe God s key victory over every opponent, when his
faithful ones would be rewarded. The Thessalonians concern seems to have been
not that the day had come and gone and they had missed it, but that it was now
present. That would mean nothing more was to be expected from God in terms of
setting things right. Since they continued to suffer persecutions, this was a
depressing prospect.
Even
before he contradicts this false report, Paul reassures the Thessalonians that
God will indeed pay back all those who were troubling them. He reminds them of
the details he had discussed with them in person of how the day of the Lord
would arrive. He then repeats some instruction from his earlier letter, urging
them not to be idle but to work hard and earn their own livings.
At the
end of the letter, most of which would have been written by a scribe, Paul adds
a greeting in his own handwriting. He wants them to know for sure this teaching
is really coming from him!
After
Paul was released from prison in Rome, he discovered that leaders in the
Ephesian church had distorted the genuine message they had first heard from Paul
himself. They had misapplied certain Jewish practices and borrowed some others
from the philosophies of the day. They restricted certain foods, forbade
marriage and stressed controversial speculations as the path to spiritual
progress. At the same time, they tolerated immoral behavior. So Paul sent his
co-worker Timothy to Ephesus and wrote him a letter, which he was expected to
share with the church. He hoped it would give Timothy the power and influence to
set things in order until Paul could get to Ephesus himself.
Paul s
focus is on what true leadership in the church looks like. This would help the
Ephesians reject those who weren t qualified and replace them with those who
were. Paul includes a special warning toward the end of his letter about the
dangers of greed, which seemed to be at the root of their problems.
Throughout the letter Paul uses the phrase Christ Jesus that is, Messiah
Jesus which emphasizes the kingly rule of Jesus. This helped remind the church
that Jesus is their real leader and is the clearest model of authentic
leadership.
Paul
left his co-worker Timothy in the city of Ephesus to deal with some renegade
leaders in the church there. When Timothy struggled, however, Paul went back to
Ephesus. Once there, Paul suffered a great deal of harmfrom Alexander,
one of these leaders, and he was once again imprisoned and taken to Rome. He
expected that this time he would be tried and executed. Paul wrote to Timothy to
ask him to come to Rome quickly.
Things
in Ephesus had not gone as Paul or Timothy expected. Paul had ordered both
Alexander and Hymenaeus to step down from leadership, but they were continuing
to oppose Paul. Others had joined them, and they were still misdirecting people
into a corrupted version of the faith that stressed debate and dissension rather
than purity and obedience. Timothy was discouraged and intimidated. Paul s
letter includes challenges to stay faithful to the true message even if this
meant suffering or death. Paul reminds Timothy that in the days before the open
appearance of Jesus as king, there will be lots of trouble. False teachers,
treacherous and insincere people, persecutions and more will all challenge the
faithfulness of God s people.
Paul
urges Timothy to remember the gospel message: Jesus Christ, raised from the
dead, descended from David.He points out that the sacred writings Timothy
has known since he was a child are God-breathed, and will help him continue in
doing good work.
After
the apostle Paul was released from prison in Rome, he discovered that renegade
leaders were preying on the people of the church he had founded in Ephesus. He
therefore left his long-time co-worker Timothy in that city with a letter
authorizing him to replace these leaders and restore order. A similar situation
on the island of Crete required Paul to commission another long-time co-worker,
Titus, to act as his representative there.
Paul s
letter is addressed to Titus, but it is meant for the larger church as well. He
confers his own authority on Titus and instructs him to appoint godly leaders.
Paul s description of the false teaching matches that in Ephesus: a combination
of selective Jewish observances (such as being circumcised and abstaining from
certain foods) and the pursuit of controversial speculations. However, the
teaching didn t help people live purer lives. Paul tells the community that the
grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.It is the true
message about Jesus that helps God s people live a new kind of life. Paul
reveals his plan to spend the winter in Nicopolis, a city on the west coast of
Macedonia. It would provide an excellent jumping-off point for bringing the
gospel to the western part of the empire. He trusts that Titus will help restore
order in Crete so he can accompany Paul on this new venture.
One of
the people Paul chose to deliver the letters we know as Colossians and Ephesians
was a man named Onesimus. Onesimus was originally from Colossae, and would have
been known to the people there. But Paul was compelled to write a separate
letter for him. This was because Onesimus had been the slave of a wealthy
Colossian named Philemon, in whose home the church met. Onesimus had run away,
probably robbing Philemon in the process. In Rome he had become a follower of
Jesus. He d been helping Paul in prison, but now Paul needed him to return to
Colossae. Paul s hope was that Philemon would not only forgive Onesimus, but
welcome him as a brother and no longer a slave.
Paul s
brief letter to Philemon stresses the change in Onesimus s life. His name meant usefulin
Greek, and Paul tells Philemon that while he had formerly been useless(a
servant Philemon couldn t count on), now he could be useful to both of them.
Paul doesn t put Philemon under any obligation. His appeal is on the basis of
love, and he promises to honor the demands of justice by making restitution
himself if necessary.
Most
likely Paul s appeal was successful, or this letter would not have been
preserved. In the life of Onesimus we have a clear example of the kind of
transformation that occurred in thousands of lives as the gospel message spread
throughout the Roman Empire.
Neither
the author nor the audience of this book is specifically named, but the book
itself reveals its nature and purpose. The recipients are Jesus-believing Jews
who are in danger of falling away from the faith. They are likely in Italy,
since the author passes on greetings to them from those who are from
Italy probably their friends who are traveling elsewhere. The goal of the whole
book is to show the superiority of the final realities God has revealed in the
new covenant to the temporary ones of the first covenant. Its readers are
encouraged to respond to the threat of persecution by recommitting to the new
reality brought by Jesus.
The book
alternates between teachings reviews of Israel s history or the temple worship
arrangements and challenges based on these teachings. There are four
teaching-challenge pairs:
: Jesus
and the salvation he brings are greater than the angels and the salvation they
announced (the law of Moses).
: Jesus
is our apostle (someone sent by God on a specific mission), and he brings us
into a greater rest and promised land than Moses and Joshua brought Israel into.
: Jesus
is a more effective high priest than the priests appointed by the law of Moses.
: As
God s faithful people have done throughout the ages, we must continue living in
light of God s unseen heavenly realities and stepping out in faith. Through the
Messiah we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
James,
one of the brothers of Jesus, became a leader of the church in Jerusalem after
Jesus death and resurrection. He was respected for the advice he gave and for
the wise decisions he helped the community of believers make (see Acts
15:13-21). At one point he decided to write down some of his best teachings and
advice and send them to other Jewish believers in Jesus who were scattered
throughout the Roman Empire. What he wrote to them has become known as the book
of James.
This
book begins like a letter because it s being sent to people at a distance. But
it is actually not very much like other letters of the time. It is a collection
of short sayings and slightly longer discussions of practical topics. The
conversational style, the short, pithy sayings and the interweaving of themes
all make this book similar to the wisdom writing found in Proverbs and
Ecclesiastes.
Like
those wisdom books, James concentrates on questions of daily living in God s
good creation. He considers such practical issues as concern for the poor, the
responsible use of wealth, control of the tongue, purity of life, unity in the
community of Christ-followers, and above all patience and endurance during times
of trial. The godly wisdom here remains as valuable a guide to living fully
human lives as when James first shared it centuries ago.
The
apostle Peter was one of the twelve disciples Jesus appointed and taught during
his time on earth. Peter spent the final years of his life and ministry in the
early 60s AD as a leader of the church in Rome. When he learned that churches in
other Roman provinces (all located in what is now Turkey) were experiencing
persecution, he wrote to urge them to remain faithful to Jesus. Peter s letter
was delivered by Silas, a man who also worked with the apostle Paul (see Acts
15:22 17:15). Peter introduces Silas and explains that he helped to compose the
letter.
After
the opening, the letter has three main sections:
: Peter
first tells his readers to be holy in all you do.As Gentiles they once
lived in ignorance (they did not know the ways of God). But they are now a holy
nation, part of God s own people, and are called to a new way of life.
: Peter
then explains how this way of life will impress those who might accuse and
persecute them without just cause.
: Finally, Peter acknowledges that his readers are suffering for their faith,
but he explains that this is only to be expected. The Messiah himself suffered,
and believers all over the world are facing the same challenge. The followers of
Jesus are waiting for the day God will visit them, and even in their suffering
they can show they belong to God.
Around
AD 65 the apostle Peter was imprisoned in Rome by the emperor Nero, and he
realized that he would soon be executed. Since he was an eyewitness of the
ministry of Jesus, he decided to write another letter to the believers he had
written to before, confirming what they had been taught about Jesus. False
teachers were proposing that, since Jesus hadn t returned already, his return
couldn t be expected at all. Because they didn t expect any future judgment,
they were living immoral lives. (Peter likely learned about the threat of these
teachers from a letter sent by Jude, a brother of Jesus, to warn believers
against them. Peter s letter echoes Jude s, but in shorter form. See Jude.)
Peter
answers the false teachers by stressing that he personally saw the glory and
majesty of Jesus on the sacred mountain(see Mark 9:2-13). Everyone will
see this glory when Jesus returns. In powerful imagery Peter describes the false
teachers destructive effect on the community and the judgment that awaits them.
In the final section of his letter, Peter explains that the Messiah s return has
been delayed because God wants everyone to repent. Our proper response is to
live good lives filled with hope, since we are looking forward to a new
heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
The
letter known as 1 John was sent to a group of believers who were in the midst of
an unsettling situation. Some of them had abandoned faith in Jesus the Messiah
as it had first been taught to them. They found the proclamation that God had
come in a human body impossible to reconcile with the common Greek idea that the
flesh is evil and only spirit is good. But despite their denial of the Messiah,
their immoral lives and their lack of practical love, they claimed to know God
and belong to God. They asserted that their spiritual insight put them above the
rest of the group, which they demonstrated by deserting the fellowship. Those
left behind were deeply shaken, uncertain about everything they had been taught.
Someone
who was close to this community and who had been an eyewitness of Jesus wrote to
reassure them of what they had heard from the beginning.The author
doesn t identify himself, but very likely he was the apostle John. Much of the
language is similar to the Gospel of John. The letter testifies to the reality
of the Messiah s coming in the flesh, reassuring the believers that they have
full access to the truth. It emphasizes godly living and practical caring as the
signs of those who genuinely know God.
The same
person who wrote 1 John to encourage believers also found it necessary to write
to other churches where the false teachers might go to spread their ideas and
practices. The letter of 2 John addresses one such gathering, referring to the
church as a ladyand its members as her children. The author
describes the members of his own community as the children of your sister.
(This was apparently typical of early followers of Jesus; there is a similar
greeting at the end of 1 Peter.) He identifies himself as a church leader by
using the title elder.
Apparently some people from this church had just come to visit him and he was
pleased to learn that they were walking in the truth. He warns the church not to
support the false teachers in any way. Despite its brevity, this letter
expresses all of the themes that receive deeper development in 1 John.
This
letter is a note of thanks and encouragement to an individual named Gaius. John
had sent a letter to the church of which Gaius was a member, introducing and
commending certain individuals, but a leader named Diotrephes refused to
accommodate them. He opposed John s authority to the point of actually expelling
anyone who supported the people he had sent. Gaius, however, put these preachers
up in his own home, enabling them to carry out their mission. John s gratitude
makes it clear that the church should provide a base of operations for traveling
preachers who were walking in the truth. John also promises to come soon to set
matters right.
Jesus
had several brothers, two of whom were James and Jude. Much less is known about
Jude than James (see James), but he was clearly a church leader, since he wrote
to believers with authority in this letter that bears his name. It cannot be
determined exactly who was meant to receive the letter, although the references
to angels, to Israel s history and to specific writings indicate that Jewish
Christians were in view.
Jude
addresses the problem of false teachers who have come and are now threatening the
faith that was once for all entrusted to God s holy people.On the basis of
supposedly inspired dreams, they reject authority and pollute their own bodies.
Even though they claim to be bringing God s message, they really follow mere
natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.The believers must actively
resist them and cleanse their community by rejecting both the teaching and the
example of these ungodly men.
It seems
that the apostle Peter received a copy of Jude s letter and wrote a similar one
of his own to show that it faithfully presented the teaching of the apostles of
the Lord Jesus Christ (see 2 Peter).
The
ancient Roman Empire defended its economic and political control in spiritual
terms, calling its gospel the Pax Romana, or Roman Peace. While in exile
on the island of Patmos, a Jewish Christian prophet named John received a vision
showing that the cult of emperor worship would soon become deadly to followers
of the Messiah. The book of Revelation (or Apocalypse, meaning unveiling)
is a warning, circulated to seven cities in the Roman province of Asia Minor.
John s main point is to challenge and encourage the believers in the midst of
their opposition and persecution.
Revelation is an apocalypse, a literary form well known in John s day. In an
apocalypse a visitor from heaven reveals the secrets of the unseen world and the
future through vivid symbols. While the symbols may appear strange at first,
they become more clear when seen in their first-century setting and in light of
other Bible imagery.
John s
vision has four main parts, each marked by the phrase in the Spirit.
After words of warning and encouragement to each of the seven churches, John s
visions then center on Jesus his role in redemption and the judgments he brings
to the world. The immoral political and economic forces that rebel against God
will be destroyed, and the Messiah will triumph over all his enemies. The vision
closes with the promise that God s faithful servants will reign over the new
creation.
Revelation also functions as the appropriate conclusion to the entire drama of
the Bible. John concludes with images from the garden of Eden, the first story
in the Bible. The world will experience a fresh beginning: He who was seated on
the throne said, I am making everything new!
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