Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 31; 1 Timothy 2April 13, 2012
For the Love of God by D.A. Carson
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 31; 1 Timothy 2
PROVERBS 31 FOCUSES, IN TWO different ways, on women.
In the first part (Prov. 31:1–9), the text offers us the “Sayings of King Lemuel” (of whom we know very little)—but although these sayings are “of King Lemuel” in the sense that he authorized them or made them known, they are alternatively described as “an oracle his mother taught him” (Prov. 31:1).
These sayings touch on three subjects. (a) Lemuel’s mother strongly encourages her son to avoid fornication. He must not spend his vigor “on those who ruin kings”—and presidents, for that matter. In addition to the ordinary lusts of the flesh, those in power doubtless have additional opportunities to satiate those lusts, along with additional responsibilities. So the right resolve must be taken as a matter of principle early in life. (b) She tells Lemuel to avoid intoxication. In an age before morphine, beer and wine were fine to help those dying or in terrible anguish (Prov. 31:6), but the “help” provided is of the sort that makes you forget yourself and even lose consciousness. Rulers have no right to opt for such escapism, for they are responsible for upholding the law and assisting the oppressed (Prov. 31:4–5). (c) That brings the queen mother to her last theme: King Lemuel must “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Prov. 31:8). High officials should not use their office to feather their nest and grow detached from ordinary people, but to administer fairly and especially to help the neediest and poorest members of society.
The second part of chapter 31 (Prov. 31:10–31) is well known and describes a “wife of noble character.” (It would be easy to show that the book of Proverbs also says quite a bit about the husband of noble character, but the relevant proverbs are not drawn together into one place, as here.) This woman of noble character is someone in whom her husband has full confidence (Prov. 31:11) and who constantly seeks his good (Prov. 31:12). She is industrious, so much so that she contributes to family income and has more than enough left over to help the poor and needy (Prov. 31:13–22). She plans for the long haul, speaks with wisdom, and manages the household well. In the end she is the praise of her children and husband alike. But above all, and beyond the culturally specific descriptions (e.g., she works with wool and flax, and as a farmer’s wife considers a field and buys it), she fears the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (Prov. 31:30).
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 30; 1 Timothy 1April 12, 2012
For the Love of God by D.A. Carson
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 30; 1 Timothy 1
SEVERAL TIMES IN THIS BOOK there is a formula of the sort, “For x things such-and-such, and for x+1 this-and-that.” For instance, Proverbs 6:16–19 begins, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him.” Then the list begins: “haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers”—seven items, always the “x+1” number of items. This way of introducing a list with two lines—the first with a number one less than the number of items in the list; the second with the precise number of items in the list—builds anticipation and is part of the Hebrew parallelism that does not like to have exactly the same thing in both lines.
Proverbs 30 has several instances of this formula. It is not necessary to use the formula if a list is being introduced (Prov. 30:24), but it is common (Prov. 30:15b, 18, 21, 29). The five lists in this chapter are grounded in thoughtful observation of highly diverse phenomena, and each of the five makes a different point. Here I reflect on two of them.
The first is the list (without introductory formula) of small things that are extremely “wise”: ants, coneys (probably rock badgers), locusts, and lizards (Prov. 30:24–28). This use of “wise” is bound up with the skill to survive (see meditation for March 14). An individual ant is nothing, easily crushed, without intelligence, yet ants store up food for the winter and survive. Rock badgers are small and relatively defenseless, yet they have the ability to make their homes in crags where others could not live. Lizards are so slow and stupid that children can catch them in their hands, and yet they have whatever it takes to live even in palaces. All these skills, all this “wisdom,” God has graciously granted. In the larger context of the book, the lesson is obvious. We too are like stupid little ants or lizards, yet God has graciously given us the wisdom to survive. Two more thoughts are not far behind: (a) our wisdom, like that of the ant, is derived from God; (b) it is shockingly rebellious not to acknowledge him with gratitude as the source of our life.
The second list itemizes the thing Agur the author does not understand: “the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden” (Prov. 30:18–19). Thus sex is a created function, gloriously mysterious, to be treated with respect and neither cheapened nor abused.
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 29; 2 Thessalonians 3April 11, 2012
For the Love of God by D.A. Carson
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 29; 2 Thessalonians 3
FROM PROVERBS 29 I SHALL pick up four themes:
(1) “An evil man is snared by his own sin, but a righteous one can sing and be glad” (Prov. 29:6). This is profoundly insightful. The results of sin include distortions to your own personality, falling afoul of your own evil, fear of being exposed, subjective guilt, and much more: you are ensnared by your own sin. By contrast, the person committed to righteousness not only avoids such snares, but is in consequence relatively carefree. He or she “can sing and be glad.”
(2) “Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright” (Prov. 29:10; cf. Prov. 29:27). Although this is a general truth, it is supremely manifested in Jesus. He could tell some of his opponents, “As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God” (John 8:40). It is precisely because Jesus tells the truth that they do not believe him (John 8:45). By contrast, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (John 7:17). “Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright”; it is not surprising therefore that the most upright man who ever lived, with the greatest integrity, was hung on a cross to die.
(3) Corruption may run from the bottom up or from the top down. When it starts at the bottom, it is pretty repulsive, and it may take a lot of work on the part of those above to root it out, or at least to bring it under control. But when it runs from the top down, it is both repulsive and impossible to reform piecemeal; drastic change is required. If the people at the top are corrupt, or even if they merely tolerate corruption with a wink and a nod, the situation is desperate. One form of this top-down corruption, superficially more benign, is the ruler who is soothed by lies, who surrounds himself or herself with underlings who will say only what he wants to hear. The wise understand: “If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked” (Prov. 29:12).
(4) Older English versions rendered the first line of Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (KJV), or the like, which became a call for visionary leadership. But the NIV has it right, and the issue is even more important: “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.” Where there is no revelation from God, grasped and obeyed, people “cast off restraint”—an apt and terrifying description of contemporary Western culture (cf. Judg. 21:25).
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 28; 2 Thessalonians 2April 10, 2012
For the Love of God by D.A. Carson
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 28; 2 Thessalonians 2
ON PROVERBS 28, I WISH to make two observations:
First, this chapter, typical of others in this book, devotes considerable attention to rulers. “When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers, but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order” (Prov. 28:2). This acknowledges the joint responsibility of ruler and people. “When the righteous triumph, there is great elation; but when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding” (Prov. 28:12; cf. also Prov. 28:28). The skills of ruling are never merely administrative and personal, but are tied to the deepest questions of public justice. “Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless people” (Prov. 28:15). This puts a similar thought in highly dramatic form. “A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment, but he who hates ill-gotten gain will enjoy a long life” (Prov. 28:16). This reflects the danger of corruption in any government, especially one that is unconstrained by competing branches and electoral limitations. Indeed, this passage puts into proverbial form something more comprehensively set out in Deuteronomy 17:18–20.
Second, people sometimes charge that the Bible’s Wisdom Literature seems so cut off from the rest of the Bible’s plot-line that they do not know how to integrate it with the whole. Sermons and Bible studies on Proverbs or Ecclesiastes are always in danger of degenerating into thin moralizing that could easily be slotted into some other religious framework. One understands the problem, but there are more links between Wisdom Literature and the rest of the canon than is sometimes acknowledged. From this chapter I mention three:
(1) Rather exceptionally, three times this chapter refers to the Law of God. “Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them” (Prov. 28:4)—which illustrates the social implications of law-keeping. “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father” (Prov. 28:7)—a contrast both startling and suggestive. “If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable” (Prov. 28:9)—which demonstrates that under the terms of the old covenant, faithfulness to God was shown in obedience to the Law.
(2) “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Prov. 28:13)—with dramatic echoes and advances in
1 John 1:9.
(3) “A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him” (Prov. 28:11); “A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper” (Prov. 28:25). Read James.
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 27; 2 Thessalonians 1April 9, 2012
For the Love of God by D.A. Carson
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 27; 2 Thessalonians 1
IN REFLECTING ON PROVERBS 27, I shall draw attention to five independent proverbs:
(1) “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses” (Prov. 27:6). This is one of a substantial number of proverbs scattered throughout the book that despise flattery and insist that wise people not only administer rebuke in a kind and thoughtful way, but accept it and learn from it. For instance: “Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning” (Prov. 9:8–9). “He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise” (Prov. 15:31). This is a very different world from a culture in which people are simply encouraged to find themselves or express themselves.
(2) A number of proverbs, one of them in this chapter, value loyalty: “Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father” (Prov. 27:10). That sort of value is social; it transcends the “me first” mentality of individualism run amuck, and thus comports well with the New Testament emphasis on the corporate wholeness of the church.
(3) “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Prov. 27:17)—which again is impossible where rabid individualism holds sway. Pastors and scholars know their thinking is sharper if they take time for honest interaction with their peers.
(4) “Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man” (Prov. 27:20). Few sentences sum up so briefly and so evocatively the bottomless acquisitiveness of fallen human beings, the lust for things and power, the drive for possession, control, and novelty. A moment’s reflection, and Death and Destruction become not only the standard of what it means never to be satisfied, but also what characterizes “the eyes of man.”
(5) “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives” (Prov. 27:21). This could simply mean that after a person has gone through the crucibles of affliction, the approval rating, as it were, is assigned by the valuation of his or her peers at the other end. But it is more likely that praise itself is in some respects the ultimate test of character. You can tell as much about people (and maybe more) by how they respond to praise as you can by how they respond to adversity. Ask football heroes, movie stars, and people in church too rapidly promoted. Perhaps this is the ultimate crucible. It does not destroy us; it exposes what is there, and very often it is not much.
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 26; 1 Thessalonians 5April 8, 2012
For the Love of God by D.A. Carson
Daily Bible Reading: Proverbs 26; 1 Thessalonians 5
FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE are often called the Pauline triad. They crop up again and again in Paul’s correspondence, in various combinations and structures of thought. Doubtless the best-known passage is 1 Corinthians 13:13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” It may be that the reason love is the greatest of these three cardinal Christian virtues is that love is the only one that God exercises. Elsewhere the Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8); it never says that God is faith or that God is hope.
In the epistle before us, the Pauline triad first crops up in chapter 1: “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:3). Sometimes only two elements of the triad are present: e.g., “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing” (2 Thess. 1:3). Sometimes the three are linked in particular ways: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you” (Col. 1:3–6). Although love may be “the greatest” of the three, in this passage hope is the foundation or even the motivation of faith and love—though that arrangement is far from invariable (e.g., Eph. 1:15, 18).
If the Pauline triad occurs at the beginning of 1 Thessalonians, so it recurs at the end: “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet” (1 Thess. 5:8, italics added). These variations suggest that faith, hope, and love were not, for Paul nor for the early Christians, a cluster of tired words always deployed in some boring formula. Rather, they were the quintessential Christian virtues that they thought about and pursued, so that their reflections and experience prompted them to describe these virtues in many different ways. Here we find the metaphor of the armor of God, but not with the associations found in Ephesians 6:10–17—once again demonstrating that these were fresh and living forms of speech, not clichés emptied of all power except comforting repetition.
Daily Bible Reading:Proverbs 25; 1 Thessalonians 4April 7, 2012
For the Love of God by D.A. Carson
Daily Bible Reading:Proverbs 25; 1 Thessalonians 4
SOMETIMES THE BIBLE PROVIDES A GLIMPSE of the means God graciously used to produce the Bible. For instance, Luke 1:1–4 lays out some of the research the third evangelist did. Here in the opening lines of Proverbs 25, we catch another glimpse: “These are more proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah” (Prov. 25:1)—who of course lived two centuries after Solomon. Apparently some individual proverbs were passed down and finally collected by some scholars who worked during Hezekiah’s administration. That means that the entire book of Proverbs, which coalesces several collections, is even later. And at every step God was guiding the developments.
Sometimes the book of Proverbs serves as a quarry for quotations in the New Testament. We have already come upon a few instances (e.g., Prov. 3:11–12 quoted in Heb. 12:5–6—see meditation for March 16). Here there are two more: Proverbs 25:7, adapted by the Lord Jesus in Luke 14:7–10; and Proverbs 25:22, quoted by Paul in Romans 12:20.
But the theme on which I wish to focus attention today is self-restraint or self-control, which keeps resurfacing in this chapter. “Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence, and do not claim a place among great men” (Prov. 25:6). The scramble for the top is ugly self-promotion. Far better to be self-restrained and develop integrity. Someone may yet say, “Come up higher.”
“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone” (Prov. 25:15)—far different from the bluster and splutter of the uncontrolled. Self-control and tact often achieve what a blunderbuss merely destroys. Self-control should also inform the degree to which you lean on others (Prov. 25:17).
“If you find honey, eat just enough—too much of it, and you will vomit” (Prov. 25:16). This proverb has application to more foods than honey, and to more pleasures than food. Lack of self-control, far from multiplying pleasure, brings vomit and self-loathing. Another “honey” proverb tweaks the thought a little. “It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor” (Prov. 25:27). The same sense of nauseating disgust that accompanies eating too much honey accompanies self-promotion. Others feel as much revulsion, the proverb tells us, in the one case as in the other.
And the opposite of self-restraint? “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give” (Prov. 25:14). “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control” (Prov. 25:28). The fruit of the Spirit includes self-control (Gal. 5:23; 1 Thess. 5:6; 2 Tim. 1:7).
Are You Running From God?April 6, 2012
Are You Running From God?
Adam Greenfield
Jonah 1:1-3
This week in Youth Group we began our study in the Book of Jonah by looking at Jonah 1:1-3. These first three verses set up the entire story. God’s word comes to Jonah telling him to “go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” This is a tall order for any man, but one we would expect for a prophet of God. And we would expect, like any other prophet, for him to go. But Jonah does something unexpected and fascinating. He runs! He actually tries to run away “from the presence of the Lord.” This is a man who knew God. He knew God’s character. He knew God’s word and he certainly would have known Psalm 139 which says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” Everyone knows you can’t run from God. Yet Jonah runs. Why? Well, we don’t get the answer to that question until the end of the story, and we’ll look at this reason in later posts, but the bottom line is that Jonah runs from God for selfish reasons.
Are you running from God? Maybe a better question is are you trying to run from God? Are you like Jonah, knowing the things of God but ignoring them because of selfish reasons? Jonah couldn’t see the foolishness of his actions, and neither do we. So often we think there is a better way. A happier way. A way that leads to real peace, hope, love, and joy. But running from God never takes us where we want to go. Jonah thought he could take a ship, even pay the fare for a ship, to get away from God. He never got to where he was going, and neither will we. Donald Barnhouse wrote, “It is always that way. When you run away from the Lord you never get to where you are going, and you always pay your own fare. On the other hand, when you go the Lord’s way you always get to where you are going, and he pays the fare.”
God’s way is always the best way. Even when the world around you is screaming for you to go another way, don’t believe them. Jesus, who is the true and greater Jonah, told us that he is way, truth and life. Trust in him, his ways, his plans, his truth, and he will carry you to where you are going. And he will pay the fare!
Joy of RecoveryApril 5, 2012
Joy of Recovery
Stefan Bomberger
Last night at the prayer meeting Brian exhorted us to pray that God would open a door for His word out of Scripture. I want to highlight a door that appears to be opening for us as a church and entreat your prayers. Recently, we have had a number of folks walking to our church from a nearby recovery house, called Joy of Recovery. Last week, Bobby Clark and I visited with the house manager, Craig, to discuss how we might serve their cause. We discussed serving monthly at the house, through Second Saturday. In fact, April 14th we plan to already send a team over their to help clean-up around the house and do some yard-work. Also, Bobby and I were able to drop off a television later in the week, courtesy of Friendship Center.
Doors are opening. After our brief interactions, Craig has invited us as a church to start up a weekly Bible study in the house. The house holds a maximum of 12 residents of mixed gender, so in many ways it will be the perfect small group size! What a great opportunity for us to bring God’s Word to those in desperate need of the freedom Christ provides. So I entreat your prayers. May God open a door for his Word and firmly establish the Gospel in this home. Also, if you, or someone you know in the church, has a heart to serve in this capacity, please reach out to me and let me know. What a joy to partner with you in the advance of the glorious Gospel!
Daily Bible Reading:Proverbs 24; 1 Thessalonians 3April 5, 2012
For the Love of God by D.A. Carson
Daily Bible Reading:Proverbs 24; 1 Thessalonians 3
MANY OF THE VERSES IN PROVERBS 24 seem to be set in a time of danger when evil is strong and the outcome uncertain:
(1) “If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!” (Prov. 24:10). That may be an uncomfortable thought, but it needs saying. Anyone can bulldoze ahead when the course is downhill. And of course, our strength often really is small. How often Christians discover, with Paul, that God’s strength is perfected in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:1–10).
(2) As I write this a horrible case has come to light. A university student peeked over the wall in a public lavatory and saw his friend abusing and beating a very young girl, and he walked away and did nothing. Later the friend told him that he had killed the girl, who was found the next morning stuffed in the toilet. Still the university student did nothing. This is a microcosm of those who glimpsed something of the horrors of the holocaust and did nothing. So hear the word of the Lord: “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, ‘But we knew nothing about this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” (Prov. 24:11–12).
(3) “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out” (Prov. 24:19–20). The believer must take the long view. If we judge everything by who wins and who loses in the short span of our own lives, we will often be frustrated. But God the Judge has the last word.
(4) Suppose, then, that the wicked, or at least your enemy whom you take to be wicked, faces horrible reverses, even in this life. Here too there is a right way and a wrong way of proceeding. “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice” (Prov. 24:17). Why not? Because you have descended to his level, and “the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him” (Prov. 24:18)—and quite possibly toward you. As “the wise” put it, “Do not say, ‘I’ll do to him as he has done to me; I’ll pay that man back for what he did’ ” (Prov. 24:29). Christians cannot fail to hear in these words an anticipation of the “golden rule,” an utterance by the Lord Jesus himself: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12).
- Articles (45)
- Blog (11)
- Current Series (6)
- Daily Bible Reading: Even Years (138)
- Daily Bible Reading: Odd Years (365)
- Events (8)
- From The Pastors (19)
- Media Purity (5)
- News (7)
- Quotes (12)
- Resources (5)
- Videos (6)
Featured Sections:
