Tag: Daniel Smead

Paul on the Truth

Theme Week – 1 God, 1 Messiah: 1 Timothy 2

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 13 & 14

Psalms Reading: Psalm 83

     Paul had asked one of his best supporters, Timothy (Philippians 2:19-22), to stay at Ephesus and address false teaching (1 Timothy 1:3-7). In 6:20-21 Paul warns against “the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’ – which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith.” (NASB). By writing of “knowledge” (gnosis in Greek) this way Paul suggests the presence of “gnostic” thought in Ephesus. “Gnosticism” covers a range of belief systems from the early centuries of the Christian era and grasping all of that history isn’t the point here, but I will mention some possible links to a gnostic group later.

     The chapter begins with a support for prayer, highlighting its benefits for good order. The Jews had an exemption from sacrificing for the emperors and gave prayer for the emperors. The Romans accepted this compromise in part because they knew the strength of the Jewish conviction in their one God, and the risk of rebellion if they rejected it. For a time Christians were accepted under that compromise by the Romans, being seen as a category of Jewish believers. But Paul was not necessarily speaking of the compromise at all, but just of the benefits of prayer itself.

     Paul goes on to state that he wants all to know the truth: “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.” (verses 5-6). The fact of Jesus being a mediator between God and humanity doesn’t come up often – the word for mediator only shows up six times in the New Testament, here, in Galatians 3, and in Hebrews 8, 9 and 12. Mediation is relevant for Jesus in his position as High Priest, one of the three tasks tied to being the Christ / Messiah, the anointed one. Once a year the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies (where the Ark of the Covenant was) and pray on behalf of the nation. This text in 1 Timothy addresses how Jesus is also the ransom, the sacrifice, which permitted the High Priest to enter the Holy of Holies. The High Priest did not perform a sacrifice inside that room, he brought in blood from a sacrifice of a lamb that had taken place outside the room, and sprinkled it in the room. And so Jesus, our High Priest, is able to enter the true Holy of Holies in heaven and remain there – not one day but perpetually – based on having provided his own blood as the lamb (Revelation 5:9; Hebrews 10:11-25).

     I also see Jesus as a proper mediator in how he understands the perspectives of both sides – he is the one sinless human being (1 Peter 2:22), better fit than anyone else to speak for God’s concerns (and, of course, God’s chosen representative as the Christ), but he is a human who suffered temptations as we do (Hebrews 4:15).

     The later part of the chapter may explain why Paul was giving a brief explanation of the true faith – I would suggest he made his statement when he did in contrast to the teachings being presented by those he was having issues with in Ephesus. Sometimes people have argued about whether these statements should be taken as universal to all churches. I do not see them as universal, nor do I see them as restricting all women in Ephesus, because of inconsistencies this would create and because of an alternate explanation I perceive. But first the inconsistencies.

     Some translations say “teach or have authority” in verse 12, but texts like 1 Corinthians 11 show that Paul accepted women as teachers (and he named various female co-workers in his letters, such as the well-known Priscilla, Phoebe, etc.). It seems better from the Greek to see this phrase as “teach with authority” which means it is not two issues but one, guided by whatever type of authority we are dealing with – because this is not the normal word for “authority” in the New Testament. The Greek word used in 1 Timothy 2:12 for “authority” only appears here in the Bible, telling us little, but its extrabiblical uses suggest it is more like a kind of stolen authority which Paul would not wish any Christian (male or female) to obtain. The reason that this passage links it to women will be made more clear shortly. The text says that Adam was created before Eve but does not state why this is significant – many have suggested this should relate to some greater authority for Adam due to being made first, an authority extending to men in general. But this is not discussed elsewhere in the Bible, and commonly greater responsibility results in greater punishment upon failure, not a continuation of such responsibility after failure. Next, the text says that Adam was not “deceived”, which has sometimes been thought to mean (in supposed context of Paul’s point) that Adam handled the truth about the tree better than Eve so men were to be able to handle the truth better than women. But both Adam and Eve sinned regarding the tree, and most texts about this Bible event refer to Adam, not Eve, as key to the punishment of humanity for sin (even if they are only using his name symbolically because he was the first human). And lastly, verse 15, in some readings, makes it sound like a woman’s salvation depends on bearing children rather than upon her relationship with Jesus. This seems to be a complete absurdity, particularly considering Paul’s stated support for Christians remaining unmarried (1 Corinthians 7:8).

     Now to a proposed alternative, that there were female teachers in Ephesus advocating for a gnostic sect who had infiltrated the church. Such sects cover a range of ground, but they included those who claimed that the physical universe in which we live was created by accident as an off-shoot from the powers of a purely spiritual being too different from us to even interact with us or to create matter. They would propose that this far away being self-generated a lesser spirit (like a plant gives off fruit) which in turn generated a lesser spirit, and so on (some versions went through hundreds of levels, possibly mocked as the “endless genealogies” of 1 Timothy 1:4). Eventually the story would arrive at a being that was weak / foolish enough to produce matter rather than spirit, and that being created our universe. The result was the trapping of fragments of spirit in matter – souls stuck in bodies – which needed to be retrieved to re-merge with the higher beings. Thus one of the higher spirit beings gets sent to provide the necessary knowledge to these fragments (which are unaware of their own origins) for them to escape their reality.

     It was popular in some gnostic circles to steal the writings of other groups, Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, philosophy, etc., and rewrite it to present the beliefs of the gnostic group. The Genesis account of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was popular to twist, given the tree’s name. One particular group we know of presented that tree as a positive thing to eat from to gain understanding, and described the snake as a heroic spirit-being who came to convince Eve to eat from it. They described the God of the Old Testament as the creator of the physical universe who was blocking information about higher reality from the creation. Eve was presented as having been the original human (not Adam) and, since the snake supposedly told truth, she was also specifically not deceived. This type of switch in Eve’s origin story also plays into the fact with some gnostic groups of favoring priestess figures over priests.

     You can see how what Paul says in verses 13 and 14 may be a repudiation of teachings by people in Ephesus who supported gnostics. Paul is asserting truth from Genesis. Adam was created first. Adam was not deceived by God about the tree, Eve was deceived by the serpent.

     Verse 15 caps things off – among gnostics there were two views on sexuality. Some groups said that they should be celibate to avoid physical attachments, since their goal was to leave the world behind as spirits. Some groups said that since they were going to leave their bodies behind it didn’t matter what they did with them at all. But all gnostics agreed on one thing as being an unforgiveable sin – to have a child. They saw having a child as trapping a fragment of “soul” in flesh within the creation. I see verse 15 as offering reassurance to women who had been told they were not allowed to have children that doing so was fine. What actually mattered was continuing in faith, love, and sanctity with self-restraint.

     I can’t demonstrate that the particular gnostic group I discussed was active in Ephesus – I can’t even demonstrate that the writing I was discussing about Genesis 3 had already been written at that point – but the details do seem to match together pretty well. If my proposed alternative were certainly incorrect, the inconsistencies I am concerned with would continue to concern me. And, of course, the ministry of the many women who worked alongside Paul would continue to be notable and compelling.

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to write these devotions. It has been difficult, but it has been useful to me as a demonstration that I can still be of use. I pray that I have not offended unnecessarily by anything I wrote, and that I have not mislead anyone or made an error in emphasis that would put them on the wrong course. I know that you are able to guide what people perceive in my words by your Spirit to take them where they actually need to go, and so now that my part is finished I entrust the next steps to you. Not that I did not rely on you to have been helping me along the way already. Please forgive my pride whenever I thought I was writing well, I was only writing about your words in the first place. Thank you for taking care of me, and for letting me know that you do. In the name of your son Jesus I pray these things, Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Questions:

  1. Do you make a practice of praying for worldly leaders? Do you pray only for your own leaders, or also for the leaders of other areas? Do you expect these prayers to matter?
  2. What do you think of 1 Timothy 2:5-6 as a possible stand-in for John 3:16? John 3:16 has a ring to it, but I wonder if these verses would be more likely to get people looking for the details they need. Sometimes the idea of “believing in him” sounds vague, without the context. Saying there is “testimony” might remind people to find out what the testimony said. Of course no one is meant to be a Christian without context. What do you think is your “key” verse or verses for your faith at the moment?
  3. Verse 8 says, after Paul’s statement about faith and truth, that he wants prayer everywhere “without wrath and dissension” – do you think this might be another reference to the unity of the believers being a testimony to the world? Does prayer with wrath and dissension sound appealing?
  4. The fact that Paul kept saying what he wanted from the believers may suggest that he wasn’t always getting it from them, or that he was warning them, or that he was aware how many other people would read his letters. It really isn’t clear. Which do you think is the most likely situation? How often do you read something Paul said to do and think about applying it directly to yourself? How often do you read something Paul said to do and object to the idea of applying it to yourself? How much of that is based on you thinking your circumstances are different now?
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To the One God through the One Man

Theme Week – 1 God, 1 Messiah: Romans 5

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 11 & 12

Psalms Reading: Psalm 82

Today we move out of the Gospel accounts into some of Paul’s reasoning in Romans 5. Paul explains / rejoices in how our relationship with Jesus benefits us, including by creating / allowing a relationship with God.

     Early in the chapter Paul says some things about suffering and what can be gained from it (v. 3-5) that can remind us of the text near the end of Matthew 16 on those who gain from self-surrender. Though believers have been saved, they have not been saved from all suffering, they are saved from sin and guilt. We are servants of God, and our growth may sometimes depend upon what we experience.

     Verse 5 says “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit”. It is by sharing in God’s love that we can do what God desires. God wants us to open our whole hearts to Him, but that is not the end. Then God can fill us with His own goodness and love and thus permit us to achieve a level of purity and grace which otherwise would be beyond us. But to really achieve this God needed Jesus. The separation between sinful humanity and holy God was too great for God to give the kind of gift He wished to make, until Jesus opened the way.

     Those are the terms of the discussion when Paul discusses Jesus’ death in verses 6-11, and it explains why so much of the talk is about God’s credit for Jesus dying (did you notice that part when you were reading the text?). The plan came from God, and at the right time “while we were helpless” God provided the lamb for the sacrifice (Genesis 22:8).

     God likes to promise things and have people look forward to them. We will not just live, we will share with Jesus in blessings. Verse 2, in a line that could remind us of John 17:22, says “we exult in hope of the glory of God.” In verse 10 Paul said the believers were no longer enemies but were reconciled to God through the death of Jesus – and “much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”. In verse 17 Paul said “death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Getting to live more isn’t just about having more life, but better life. We can’t really grasp at this point what that life will be like, but we know that God thought it worth taking thousands of years to prepare for, and that He let His only son die to bring it about. I bet it will be excellent.

Lord, you are awesome. You are so holy and so merciful that it is hard for me to figure out how you bring them into balance together but somehow you did so that your plan could work and we could live. You wanted more from us and for us, and you made a way to achieve that, and I love you. You saved our lives through your son, Jesus, even though you love him so much and the plan caused him so much pain. And you are reshaping our lives. Please reshape the ways that we treat each other as believers to let us be more of what you desire, and let us provide a stronger witness together for you and your son to the world around us. In the powerful name of your son Jesus I pray these things, Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Question:

  1. On the whole, would you be willing for your life to be more difficult if it meant it were also more purposeful, more useful for God and the people He loves?
  2. Paul several times refers to a “gift”, or a “free gift” in this chapter – do you tend to think of what you expect to receive from God as a gift, or do you think of yourself as owing something?
  3. Verse 11 uses the language “Not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. Look up the word “exult.” How frequently, or to what extent, do you think that you do “exult” in God? Is this something you think you should do more? Do you see it as a group activity?
  4. As a reminder, verses 2 and 3 also refer to exulting – how often have you engaged in these types of exulting?
  5. Romans is sometimes thought of as more “theological”. Do you read Romans very often for devotional purposes? It may be that a longer chunk will allow the flow to come across, or perhaps a smaller chunk at a time will allow a morsel of meaning to come through. Thinking about what Paul actually wrote in this chapter, do you find his passion here surprising?
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Who do You Say Jesus Is?

Theme Week – 1 God, 1 Messiah: Matthew 16

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 9 & 10

Psalms Reading: Psalm 81

In Matthew 16 Jesus asked for the public’s opinions of him and the answer was a range of prophets: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or someone else. Considering that John and Jesus had careers that overlapped, spent time together in public, and notably behaved differently, that made little sense. Elijah had been taken up by a whirlwind before his death, leaving people to question if he had died, and a return for him was predicted in Malachi 4:5-6. But Elijah provides the special case of Elisha who had asked to serve in Elijah’s “spirit”, or rather a double-portion of it, so the return of Elijah may well suggest a return of Elijah’s “spirit” or attitude/ministry. And Jesus said that John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah, implying that was the case (Matthew 11:14). As for Jeremiah, who we associate with grief, perhaps Jesus gave a more solemn impression than we might guess, maybe with his attacks on religious leaders. It has also been pointed out that because of God’s instructions Jeremiah was unmarried, which could be a way for Jesus to remind people of him in a culture where almost all men married. There was even a tradition that said Jeremiah had hidden the Ark of the Covenant before Jerusalem fell to Babylon, and which expected him to return and reveal where he had put it.

     Have you noticed what these expectations tell us about the capacity for some in the public to believe nonsense? Jesus had made no claim to be any of these people. His origins were known, or should have been – and here were people wanting to think he was someone else. No wonder Jesus’ death and resurrection needed many witnesses, and so much evidence. It would be too easy otherwise for people to suppose that any claims of him being alive were just the result of fools accepting a story that the wise should ignore.

     But when Jesus asked who his disciples believed he was, Peter declared “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:16). This was new. ‘Christ’ is a title meaning anointed one (some versions use the Hebrew equivalent Messiah in place of the word Christ). Jesus was anointed, and not meaning with oil, but with what oil symbolized, the Holy Spirit Jesus had received at his baptism. And Jesus was the son of God, not normally a part of the discussions about the Christ.

     Peter was blessed because he was not told this by flesh and blood (a person), but was told by God. I think Jesus meant Peter is the starting point for this awareness, which could then be spread by word of mouth, but it started by revelation. Jesus uses a play on words from Peter’s name, that sounds like the word for “stone,” and says he will build his church (his gathering of believers) on the stone of the truth Peter was given. Also the gates of “hades” will not stand against the church. That is, the believers will be able to leave hades/the realm of the grave at the resurrection. Jesus’ attention is drawn back to his death in this chapter, and to the effect it will have. The keys promised to Peter seem to involve a role for Peter’s future. If you look at Isaiah 22:22 it suggests being a steward in the household of the king.

     We don’t know all of the things people thought then about the Christ, but we recognize that the Old Testament had three anointed roles which linked with roles for Christ: prophet, high priest, and king. (This idea may have been recognized very quickly in New Testament times, but we don’t find it written about until by Justin Martyr in the second century.)

     Prophet – Deuteronomy 18:15-18; Acts 3:22 – God promised the nation a special prophet “like Moses” who would speak for God.

     High Priest – Hebrews 2:17, etc; Psalm 110 – the High Priest had a special role of sacrifice and ministry on behalf of God’s people, which Jesus took on.

     King – 2 Samuel 7, Matthew 21:5, etc. – The expectation of Christ as a king was the most well established in the people’s minds, reflected in many places. People did not expect the kind of king Jesus turned out to be, or the delay in his earthly rule. Many people in Israel expected that the Christ-King would free God’s people from their mistreatment by the nations. Not many looked for the child of David to die to accomplish salvation. Certainly none looked for God’s child to do so.

     The events of Matthew 16 were a dividing point in Jesus’ ministry. Earlier the disciples may have had private guesses about Jesus’ role, but now Jesus asked the question they wanted the answer to and things came into the open. But when Jesus made other matters about his plans more plain for the disciples, things that did not seem to put glory onto his name in Peter’s eyes, Peter objected. Peter did so because his idea of the Christ didn’t match God’s idea of the Christ. It really was a revelation that had opened his mind, not his own wisdom. He still didn’t understand all that God had planned. In his reply, among other things, Jesus says that the Son of Man will come in the Father’s glory – not his own – and repay each man according to his deeds. Unless a man give up his life for Jesus’ sake, how can he get a new one? Peter didn’t get this at first, but he would get there.

Lord, help me to set my mind on your interests. Help me not to be a stumbling block to anyone around me by the way that I speak, or how I act, or how I respond to their choices. Please help me not to be held back from what I should be doing for you by hesitancy I gain from seeing the responses of others around me, either. Let me be prepared each day to lift my cross again, if I find I have set it down, and to follow Jesus. In his name, Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Questions:

  1. Have you ever thought before about the risks of some people in the first century being too willing to believe in someone coming back from the dead? When God plans He plans for the details needed by every culture – what does that mean for believers’ efforts in writing about the scriptures, and translating them?
  2. Do you think it hurt Jesus for Peter to oppose him as he did? Do you think it hurt Peter for Jesus to speak to Peter as he did?
  3. With a really difficult lesson to learn, what are some advantages to having as good a teacher as Jesus?
  4. What is Scripture teaching you regarding who God is? What is Scripture teaching you regarding who Jesus is?
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Knowing the Only True God and Knowing the One He Sent

Theme week – 1 God, 1 Messiah: John 17

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 7 & 8

Psalms Reading: Psalm 80

In John 17 Jesus prayed a lengthy prayer (his longest in the Bible), for the disciples who were with him, and for those who would trust in him down through the years. This took place just before the group left for the garden where Jesus was arrested, leading to his death. Knowing what was coming Jesus had tried to comfort his friends. He told them: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33; NASB). That was the attitude he had when he prayed – he had overcome the world. He was about to die, but not because he was defeated. What was coming would be painful, but ultimately it would bring glory to God and to His son. And what would take place would also benefit Jesus’ friends.

     Over the centuries many people have examined these events with the wrong expectations, trying to piece together a story where Jesus is putting on a play or demonstrating his power, not one where he is incredibly brave and kind and suffers because that is what is needed. The goal was to bring people eternal life, and as Jesus said in verse 3 that eternal life came through knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom God sent. Or, to break that out, they were to know the Lord – meaning something like “I am that I am”, or in effect, “the self-existent one”. They were also to know Christ, that is from the Greek for Messiah, both words relaying the idea “anointed one”, which says Jesus was “one granted authority”. God gave Jesus the power and the words and love which allowed the plan to work. It is clear from the language in the prayer that the power and the words and the love are meant to go to those who trust in both God and Jesus.

     Some of what Jesus said has been selectively picked apart and treated as evidence for Jesus leading a life that was ‘beyond human’ in a way that would deny God’s intentions. For example, Jesus declares that he wants the Father to glorify him, together with God, with glory that he had with Him before the world was (v. 5). Some take that to mean Jesus existed in some form before the world, to possess that glory then. But God is capable of giving glory to the son He intends to have, even before that son is born. This is the God who “sees the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). John 17:24 also sounds more like this description of the situation, and there are other examples, such as the parable in Matthew 25 which refers to inheriting “the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (v. 34). And it is not as though the glory Jesus has is something beyond what humans may possess, for Jesus gives that glory to those who love him (v. 22). He does so with the intention for believers to be one in the same way that he and the Father are one (v. 22, this is another phrase that people have sometimes thought of as somehow ‘beyond human’ but really it involves unity of purpose and mutual care, not a distinction about physical nature or what-have-you). 

     We should recall that we are among the disciples Jesus was praying for. We are given great blessings and great purpose by a great man. Jesus faced everything and succeeded, and he did so for you and for me, as well as for John or Peter or James. He may not have known each of us then, but he was conscious of the choice he was making for us. And he knows us now, deeply, and he cares about our needs. And like his Father, Jesus does not desire anything bad for us.

Lord, thank you that you did not leave us without a savior, and thank you that you make it so clear what is necessary for us. Thank you for creating a family of believers for us to be part of. Please help each of us to be healthily a part of it. Please allow us to find people in the body whom we can be close together with in the unity we were meant to have. Lord, let us not be too ashamed to admit if we don’t think we have what we need in our connections to each other. Jesus said that it is in our unity that we will be a witness to the world, so help us be the witness you desire even if it requires some pain and openness along the way. In his name, Amen.  

-Daniel Smead

Questions:

  1. Does it seem like John 17:3, with the rest of the chapter, may be repeating the theme of the two great commandments, that you must love the Lord your God with your whole heart but then you are also to love your neighbors with whom you are meant to be united?
  2. John’s Gospel picks up a lot of what Jesus had to say about “the world”, describing the negative routines of this life and its ways under that title. Jesus said that he wasn’t of “the world” and that those who followed him were not of “the world” either, with the result that “the world” hated them. Have you ever been able to feel like “the world” hates you for the “right” reasons of your faith? Have you ever found yourself feeling so comfortable with “the world” that you wondered if you were not living properly with God?
  3. Jesus prayed for the future of the believers, asking God to grant them unity. What actions would you want to take for the unity of the church for the next generation?
  4. Keeping in mind that eternal life comes from knowing God and Jesus (John 17:3)- from your Bible reading thus far this year, what do you think God wants us to know about Him, and what does God want us to know about Jesus the son He sent? And how important is it?
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Do you Know the Son of the Vineyard Owner?

Theme Week: 1 God, 1 Messiah – Mark 12

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 5 & 6

Psalms Reading: Psalm 79

In Mark 12 Jesus hinted at his identity as God’s son, starting in the parable of the tenants. For a listener to have recognized Jesus in the parable may have depended on recognizing the tenants as his opponents, the current leaders of the nation – but they recognized themselves in the parable. The parable is quite different from how Nehemiah 9 presented the history of the nation. The whole of the land is pictured as a vineyard, carefully prepared by God. The emphasis is on the great lengths God went to in His mercy despite the repeated failings of the tenants. Jesus’ parable focuses on the last stage of the story, the current leadership which betrayed the trust they had been given. No parable conveys the real life situation exactly, and the image in the parable of the tenants seeking to take the inheritance for themselves by killing the heir cannot be precise – the leaders were not going to acknowledge Jesus’ identity. But they did arrange his death out of a mix of reasons that included avoiding having their positions disrupted.

     Jesus hinted at his identity again when he discussed Psalm 110:1, the Old Testament verse most often quoted in the New Testament. In the Hebrew the phrase “the Lord said to my Lord” uses God’s name (as revealed to Moses) and sets up a conversation between God and someone David (the psalmist) calls “my Lord”. Jesus asks the reasonable question why, since it was understood that the “Lord” in this text was David’s own descendant, that David would write of his descendant as his own “Lord”. The crowd may only have seen this as an interesting puzzle, but we can recognize he was showing that one of the sons of David was going to be something more significant than that one role could involve.

     In various ways Jesus came “at the right time”, fulfilling prophecies and meeting needs, including by arriving when he would be rejected. If he was not rejected, the plan could not go forward as God intended. Yet Jesus was recognizable, in a number of ways. Even in this chapter he showed his insight more than once. He showed it when he declared that holding to the one God above all, and loving your neighbor, are the height of wisdom. Anyone who set out to follow those commands would see in Jesus a fellow servant of God. But those who valued something else were still able to turn against him.

     The fact that idolatry was no longer accepted in Jewish society did not make the nation righteous, and it did not mean that the people all gained a clear grasp of God. “Idolater” may once have seemed like a good shorthand for describing a sinful character. Why, after all, would someone who did not wish to serve God choose to worship at His altar, when there were so many options to choose from? But with idolatry uncommon the “sinners” mingled with the “purer” of the flock. And sinners wished to masquerade as righteous. Some perhaps even tried to fool themselves. As Jeremiah once said, “the heart is more deceitful than all else” (17:9, NASB); God can understand all human hearts, but we can have difficulty understanding even our own. The sort of person who in the past might have knelt at a family idol of silver, while mocking his neighbor’s wooden idol, could easily fit in with some niches of Israel’s new religious elite. The scene described at the end of the chapter, with the wealthy dropping off tiny portions of their riches to great acclaim while a poor widow gave all she had, screams that the system needed reform. Yes, the donations might achieve some purpose in terms of charity or service work. But it seems like a system with fewer risks for the givers could be developed.

Lord, thank you for giving your son for me. Allow me to grow in love for you each day, and to grow in my understanding of love so that I can share it with others as well. You are a great God, and greatly to be praised. Your son, who allowed himself to die for me, is a remarkably trusting and loving man and I want to grow in my ability to be like him. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection Questions:

  1. What do you think are some things that God wants people to understand about Him?
  2. Having created your list from the first question, based on whatever standards, now try to think about what practical benefits might exist for people to know those things. There may be cases where you trust God wants a thing known, because of scripture for example, but you aren’t actually sure why.
  3. What are characteristics you think are true of both God and His son, and what are some characteristics that are different between them? How about characteristics that are specific to only Jesus, and no one else?
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Covenant with the One True God

Theme Week: 1 God, 1 Messiah: Nehemiah 9

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 3 & 4

Psalms Reading: Psalm 78

To read Nehemiah 9 after Deuteronomy 6 could make a jarring shift of perspective, as we are skipping almost to the end of Old Testament history. But certain elements remain the same. The group that has gathered in mourning is the Hebrew people, hearing Moses’ words from Deuteronomy (“the Book of the Law”). They have received a call to commitment, but not in preparation for the people’s history with God in the promised land. Rather, after looking back on many centuries of Israel’s history, leaders of the people (who at this point are not a nation but under the rule of Persia) are signing a pledge to serve God as they were always meant to.

     A poor understanding of God’s intentions from the Book of the Law was part of the problem. That book is meant to be read aloud to the nation every seventh year (31:9-11), but such readings rarely took place. In fact we are told more than once in Nehemiah that the people had forgotten about certain laws. Just before our chapter the people learned about the existence of the Feast of Booths, and they commemorated it for the first time since the days of Joshua (Nehemiah 8:14-18).

     Reading through the people’s history as the chapter describes it may make it difficult to understand why God did turn back in mercy so often, but God set the precedent at the very start. God “chose” Abram because of his faith and made a covenant with Abram which included blessings on Abram’s descendants; they had to survive (v. 7, NASB). And at the very base level God fulfills promises because God is righteous, not because anyone else is (v. 8). That is part of why God deserves and receives the praise He is given throughout the chapter. God is not like the idols, not only in being real, God is not like the selfish and inconsistent beings they were described as being.

     In jumping from Deuteronomy to Nehemiah we have skipped over centuries of difficult history, full of incomplete response to God’s direction. If you haven’t read the events of that history it might be unclear to you how idolatry maintained its presence in the promised land during those centuries. But even when reading those texts you may be left muttering “why?” at different points. God showed His power in judgment time and again, as well as demonstrating powerful mercy when the people called out to Him, but time and again the people turned away. The mourners did not intend to sugarcoat that history. They arrived at this balanced plea about their situation: “Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before you . . . However, You are just in all that has come upon us” (v. 32, 33). In effect they said ‘Please don’t decide that we should suffer more for our past failings, but we will not question what you have done.’

     Coming after all that pain, it would be nice to think that the people had finally ended the cycle of idolatry, and established a commitment to the Law, but it seems they had not. The “last straw” event for idolatry in the land was tied to the Maccabean Revolt (160s B.C.). So while the pledge of devotion was a heartfelt effort at a changed relationship with God, it was not permanent, or it did not sweep over the whole people. (The Bible does not record what happened, the events occurred in the 400-year gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament.)

     Lord, I think it can be easy for our own lives to resemble the history of Israel in Nehemiah 9, for you to choose to enter a covenant with us and bring great moments of rescue, and food and water as support in our personal deserts. But many of us have also been through some cycles where we turned stubborn shoulders and stiff necks and wouldn’t give you our ear. Thank you that you are patient and righteous. Thank you that you do not give up on what you know to be true. For myself, at least, thank you for putting me through enough hardship, at least in my heart, to keep me attentive to you and your will. In the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection Questions:

  1. A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties. God chose to put Himself under a covenant with Abram and then reemphasized and clarified it with his descendants. Verse 32 describes God as “the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness” – how important do you think the fact of covenant is to God’s willingness to maintain patience with His people?
  2. Have you felt that you were caught in a cycle of struggles with God? Do you remember that God is in a covenant with you? Recall that God isn’t going anywhere.
  3. It can be striking how unthankful the Hebrews sometimes seemed. Looking through the chapter, find five or so good things God did for the Hebrews – do you think they gave God enough thanks for them?   With that in mind, can you identify items or events that are in any way comparable that God has done or promised for you? Do you think you have thanked God as much as you think the Hebrews should have done in your place? If you have not, what do you think causes the difference? (Is it one of perspective, in perceiving another person’s issues compared to yourself? Is it about thinking the Hebrews should have been more thankful because you know they were punished for their behavior?) How highly do you value the expression of thankfulness to God, in itself? How highly do you think God values it?

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Loving the One Lord our God

Theme Week: 1 God, 1 Messiah – Deuteronomy 6

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 1 & 2

Psalms Reading: Psalm 77

(Our SeekGrowLove 2023 Bible reading plan includes 7 theme weeks spread throughout the year. This week is the first and will focus on 1 God, 1 Messiah. The OT and Psalms readings will continue and the third reading will be a chapter that lends itself to the theme. At the bottom of each devotion is a link to the yearly schedule you may download and print if you would like to keep track of where we are going next. Thanks for reading along! Let’s keep Seeking God in His Word, Growing our Faith and Loving Him More and More!)

     Deuteronomy 6 is seen as a foundational chapter for discussing the “oneness” of God. People sometimes divide the teachings of Christianity into orthodoxy (right teaching) and orthopraxy (right action). On that basis the idea of there being only one God generally gets put under the heading of a teaching. But I think God may see our faith as a more active part of our lives than that description brings to mind.

     When Moses says, at the start of Deuteronomy 6, that he is relaying “the commandments, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you” (NASB) he is continuing a thought from Deuteronomy 5 (see v. 31). Moses had described how it made the Hebrews afraid when they heard God’s voice at Horeb (Sinai) almost 40 years earlier. They had asked God not to speak aloud to them anymore, but to speak to them through Moses. The people gathered at that mountain knew that God was their God. God had already proven His faithfulness (He brought them safely from Egypt, after all), but God had also shown His judgment. They believed that to keep hearing that voice would mean their deaths. And God didn’t object to what they said. Maybe God even agreed that they risked death from being exposed so closely to God’s holiness, if only because they wouldn’t always respond to it properly. “Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all my commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!” (5:29).

     Moses says he is going to tell us “the commandments, the statutes and the judgments,” and what he starts with is that the Lord is God and is singular, which feels close to the core of the matter. This chapter opposed the nations in the land the Hebrews were about to enter. But the message is deeper than a warning against the idols that would all too often distract coming generations of Hebrews. This is about commitment and devotion in living for God. To love with your whole heart, your whole soul/life, and all your might – that is not something you can just fall into, it is something you choose, and which you need to keep on choosing.

     Moses was about to die, this speech was his farewell address, and he offered a plan that could steer the course of the history ahead of him. The generation that was being told these things was able to remember the miracles of the desert; many of them still could recall the Exodus and crossing the Red Sea. The idea was for that knowledge, that certainty about God, to be presented to each generation so it could take hold of faith for itself. But things did not go that way.

     Lord, please allow me to love you with my whole heart, soul and might. I know this is not the first time I have pledged this, and that I have not maintained that focus. But you, Lord, are a great God. You are worth turning back to, I will not give up on you because I am imperfect. And you are a merciful Lord who is willing to receive those who turn back. You will not give up on me because I am imperfect. Please help me to be renewed in what is appropriate for your glory, and to do service for your name and the name of your son, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Amen

-Daniel Smead

Daniel Smead is a father of two, former pastor of the Eden Valley Church of God, former editor of the Church of God Adult Quarterly and sometime teacher at Atlanta Bible College. He lives in Minnesota with his family and attends the Pine Grove Bible Church. In his free time he is working on creating a board game centered around early Christian heresies.

reflection Questions:

  1.  The text says to bind these words on your hands and your foreheads. Some see this as a metaphor, saying to let the scripture affect what you do with your hands, and how you think. What are some ways you could do that?
  2. Verse 24 says that we are to “fear the Lord our God for our good always”. Is it difficult to remember that God does not want anything for us that is bad for us? How do you remind yourself of that?
  3. It sometimes seems impossible that the Hebrews were denying God’s existence, rather they failed to worship their God by choosing to describe God to themselves as something other than what God is. At Sinai they pictured God as a golden calf, wanting to see the unseeable God, making God more understandable for themselves. Perhaps at Jericho Achan – who had been present for Moses’ speech – managed to mistake God for someone who cared about human wealth and advancement more than purity. Perhaps you can think of some other applications of this principle. How clearly do you think you understand what God is like? How does that understanding help you?
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42 Months. 1,260 Days.

Revelation 11

Saturday, November 26, 2022

In Revelation 11 John is told to measure God’s Temple and the altar, and the people worshipping there – except the outer court. We never learn that John reported or used these measurements, perhaps it is all a complex object lesson. (Later an angel also measures the New Jerusalem, see 21:15.) Still, the fact of doing this made John walk over every part of the Temple, and it took time. Ezekiel 40‑42 seems to list what he needed to measure – with the addition of the worshippers, and I don’t know how he did that. The whole scene also creates another lengthy pause for John in the vision, which is hard to visualize when reading.

John then learns about the Two Witnesses, who sound like a combination of Elijah with Moses and Aaron. The ability to breathe fire, while new for prophets, fits well if these verses are taken as part of the second woe. Reading about their authority it could seem odd that the nations will walk over Jerusalem and the Temple’s outer court in that time, rather than being driven away. But the witnesses will be in sackcloth for mourning. It will not be their role to drive out all the wicked, but to speak truth. The choice of what happened to the city belonged to its population. Their miracles will strike against those who seek to kill them, and back up their statements, but their basic ministry will be in their words.

And “when they have finished their testimony” the witnesses will be killed in Jerusalem. It is quite the image to think of wicked people celebrating ‘Happy Two Witnesses Day’ and exchanging gifts, perhaps commemorative shirts or mugs. But the wicked will have rejoiced in error. In the immediate aftermath thousands in Jerusalem will die, but the rest “gave glory to God.” Maybe those giving glory will be the first fruit of the witnesses’ ministries at that time. If so, I think they will be welcomed to the truth with joy, and the witnesses will count their own deaths as worthwhile. But I believe that the testimony of what these two will faithfully do has already brought great good, before they have even begun to prophesy – that is one of the strange potentials with prophecy about prophets.

The blowing of the Seventh Trumpet is answered with voices from heaven. The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ! God, the Almighty, has begun to reign! But it seems like God will be reigning over a world that is still populated by many of the wicked. If the seventh trumpet launches the third woe there is a lot of damage to come, although nothing more is said about that here. John has been told he needs to “prophesy again,” and perhaps it will be necessary to go backward to gain traction to go forward. The three-and-a-half year period which is discussed early in chapter 11 will come up again in chapters 12 and 13. While many people see the seven trumpets as leading into the woeful seven bowls of the wrath of God that is not for several more chapters.

Chapter 11 closes with another reference to the Temple in heaven, as it opens to reveal the ark of the covenant. I think that for the equivalent of the Holy of Holies in the heavenly tabernacle to open says the separation between God and mankind is being reduced or eliminated. This may not be a safe thing for the general population. Rather than a promise of blessings about to pour onto the world, it may mean that holiness will be called for.

Lord, I see in John and the unnamed witnesses people who understood servanthood, who accepted the risks in following Jesus and were completely committed. Allow me to be as humble and as brave as one of your prophets. I don’t need to tell the future. Please let me grow into that passion to do what you desire of me, guided by your Spirit, living in your love, serving in faith, working toward hope. May your will be done. Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection Questions

  1. What good can come from the prophecy of the coming of the Two Witnesses before they have even come? What do you personally gain from looking into the book of Revelation? Who do you know who could potentially benefit from knowing what is in this revelation? Pray for them, and for your faithfulness as a servant of God.
  2. What are your thoughts and feelings about the separation between God and mankind being reduced or eliminated? Why?
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The Mystery

Revelation 10

Friday, November 25, 2022

After the sixth trumpet we have a break when John is prepared for what comes next, which mirrors the break after the sixth seal when the 144,000 were sealed. We are reminded that all through this vision John has been writing what he sees, as Jesus told him to do back in 1:19 (10:4). I wonder if he started the vision in front of a blank scroll and finished with a completed work. Or was the writing part of his vision, and he needed to rewrite it all afterward? And I wonder, again, how often what he wrote came to him as part of the vision and how often his words are his efforts to convey what he experienced. For example, did John make the distinction of a “strong angel” himself, based on experience in this vision looking at different angels?

It wasn’t pointed out at the time, but in chapter 5 it was a “strong angel” that proclaimed the question about whether anyone could open the seals of the book in God’s hand. And now a “strong angel” holds the small book John will eat. Perhaps this is setting up transitions in the vision for us, as the book John eats seems to establish his personal involvement in the next part of the vision. (There is one more “strong angel” reference, in 18:21, punctuating and concluding the section on Babylon.)

When our strong angel in chapter 10 cries out like a lion roars, seven peals of thunder respond – these may refer to the peals of thunder that come from God’s throne (4:5). But John is told by a voice from heaven not to write down what the thunders said. Among all the details in Revelation this lack of information can be one of the most interesting things for us. What secret is left out here? I have sometimes suggested it might have been a self-unfulfilling prophecy (my own phrase), something we can’t be allowed to know because knowing it in advance would make it awkward for it to still take place. Like “tomorrow [fill in the blank date] king [fill in the blank name] falls.” In the context it is hard to expect a minor statement – the strong angel is just about to swear an oath by God that the mystery of God is on the verge of being completed.

The same voice from heaven tells John to get the book and eat it, which he does, but first he is warned by the strong angel that it will be sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach. This is interesting, because in Ezekiel 2:8–3:3 we get a similar story of eating a scroll that tastes sweet but there is no mention of bitterness. This is more like comments in Jeremiah 15:16-17 about him eating God’s words and finding them a joy and delight, but then being filled with indignation. What John ate was easy to take in but would result in him needing to “prophesy again concerning many people and nations and tongues and kings.” The phrase “prophesy again” is sometimes taken to mean that the next part of the vision will revisit ground, duplicating some parts of the story to get at new aspects of it. And not all of that prophecy would be a joy and a delight. But God will be revealing what He recognizes needs to be shown.

It may be worth recalling that John is in exile when he sees this vision. He will emerge from it to send his letters, his warnings and encouragements and predictions, and continue in exile. We don’t really know how bringing more attention to himself this way during a time of persecution affected his situation. Maybe not positively. But John was God’s worker and working for God isn’t always pleasant for the one working, at the time. But I trust that John absolutely knew the job was worth it, and I hope that he found the experience of his vision encouraging.

Lord, forgive me the foolishness I sometimes experience of wanting to know what you aren’t interested in telling me, and showing too little interest in what you have made plain for me. You have shown me things that are good, help me to act on that awareness. You have shown me things that are not good, help me to act on that awareness as well. If at times I have found your words bitter in my stomach I have little right to claim I have been cheated, for they were sweet on my tongue. And I acknowledge you have given me far more than I ever can give you. Help me to serve you as I ought to, even if I feel I am in the valley of the shadow of death. Your light can never be overcome. I will trust in you. Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection Questions

  1. What are your thoughts and feelings when you read verse 7, “But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
  2. What words of God might be sweet in the mouth, but sour in the stomach?
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The Right Days and Hours

Revelation 9

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Chapter 9 gives much more detail on the first and second woes than the first four trumpets, which received just six verses. That mirrors the brief coverage of the first four seals. It is true that seven is “a number of completion or perfection”, but I think more than that is involved with the several sets of seven in Revelation. John’s vision is very complicated, but how it was relayed to him helped him pass it along. It also helped others to memorize it (many believers have heard rather than read Revelation). One aspect is how certain descriptions parallel or contrast with each other. Another useful detail is the images it contains, particularly the throne. Most of John’s vision can be placed relative to that central image. We can’t automatically visualize how that gives the vision structure, but we can attempt to bring it to mind. Perhaps John didn’t always hear the 24 elders at the same volume in the background of a scene, they could have been ‘turned down’ in his perception to let him concentrate on a new event, but several times we read of scenes happening near the throne or of John looking farther away. We don’t always understand the significance of the details John provides, but some of that may be in what we are actually looking for. John provided this book for audiences with varying needs, encouraging in times of persecution, reminding of God’s promises, and offering warnings, among others. Perhaps the final generation of this age will make very special use of the vision, employing some of its peculiar design as an aid to its understanding, when taken in context with events.

The fifth trumpet involves a pit being unlocked to release creatures that are like winged locust-horses prepared for battle. They have human faces with lion’s teeth, long human hair and something like gold crowns. They also have scorpion tails that they will use for five months to deliver pain in a reign of terror. Their targets are only those who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads (9:4, referring back to chapter 7). These attacks cause so much pain people wish to be dead, but they aren’t killed. You can choose whether to see them as monsters, or perhaps a really complex metaphor. In Jeremiah 51 we read of an army serving God in bringing judgment described as “a population like locusts” (v. 14) and “horses like bristly locusts” (v. 27), maybe picturing their armor. But this goes a fair way beyond that. And it doesn’t help that their leader is described as an angel king known as Destruction or Destroyer. We only hear of him this one time, but it seems like we will read about the pit again a few days from now – the key to the pit will be brought back by another angel so that the devil can be locked up there (20:1-3).

The sixth trumpet is blown, and a voice speaks from the four horns of the golden altar (in front of God’s throne). This takes us back to just before the start of the sequence of seven trumpets when a censer filled with fire from the golden altar was cast onto the world. Each of the first four trumpets related to flame, and the fifth trumpet involved a burning star falling from the sky and smoke rising up. Now with the sixth trumpet the reference to flame is very distinct. The voice calls for four angels which have been bound at the Euphrates River in the Middle East to be released. We are told they were kept in waiting for this exact day and hour, but it isn’t fully plain what their role in the situation is. Perhaps they act as generals directing the force which emerges, for there comes a massive army of what are in effect mobile flame throwers. They are described as 200 million horsemen mounted on creatures with lion’s heads and snake tails capable of producing fire, smoke, and sulfur from the mouths at both ends. Sulfur (which has also been known as brimstone) produces a dangerous gas when it burns, and its flames are difficult to put out. The text pictures the fire, smoke, and sulfur as three plagues on humanity.

We are not given a timeframe for how long the second woe devastates humanity, but the death toll is a third of the global population. We also learn that in the wake of these events the survivors do not change their ways. In 6:16 we heard that the people realized God’s wrath had come, but they wanted to hide from it rather than repent. This text reaffirms that remorseless attitude, as well as stating some of the evils they were guilty of. Between the two trumpets there is quite the display, first a group of people who hurt so badly they wish they were dead but who don’t improve their lives during the course of five months of this, and then the deaths of masses of people without providing a cautionary tale to anyone. If God is teaching lessons by these events perhaps it is less to the people of that time than to us, letting us see how far gone matters will be by then, making us aware that God picked the right time for the end of the age. Renewal needs to come, I long for renewal actually, but let it be at the right time. The Father knows all the right days and hours.

Lord, you are loving and patient and kind. But you will not let the wicked go unpunished. You are the one who provided the Lamb, you wanted the stain of sin to be removed from me before I even knew what it was. You want to avoid punishing. You want to save, to protect, to shelter. You once flooded your creation and said you would never do it again. But you reserved this world for fire because the flood didn’t solve everything. And I’m sorry all this came about. I grieve that it was necessary. Please show me how to be a blessing, to use your Spirit to make this world a better place and reduce some of the suffering that might have been in it when you will need to act. Thank you God, I love you. Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection and Application Questions

  1. Would you rather…live through the events of the 5th trumpet or be killed in the events of the 6th?
  2. Why do you think God prompted John to write down the vision of the book of Revelation? Why are we reading it today? What specific further actions should it lead us to?
  3. Can you give an example of God’s perfect timing, either from the Bible or a personal account?
  4. How would you describe God’s love AND His need to punish the wicked to someone who has never met God?
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