The Living Word

Bible study on the set readings widely used by various churches and chapels and a weekly storytelling video. Also at www.medium.com/the-living-word and https://thelivingword.substack.com

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Archives for October 2022

Oct. 30: Faith takes note of what God says and believes it

October 27, 2022 by Ian Greig Leave a Comment

Birds starting to roost in the tops of the tall Scots pine trees against an autumn evening sky
Birds roost in the tops of the Scots pines against an autumn evening sky

This is The Living Word Bible Study for Sunday, October 30, based on the interdenominational scheme of Bible readings widely used in churches and chapels. Here they are with links to bible gateway.com (NIV Bible):

Psalm 119:137-144

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 — Prophets appeal about continuing injustice

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

Luke 19:1-10 — Jesus names Zacchaeus and asks to stay with him

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 — Faith and love grows in persecution

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  • See also this week’s linked article How Faith Comes: by Hearing and Believing What God Says
  • Watch this week’s video (15 min)
  • Listen to the podcast on The Living Word — Substack

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Psalm 119:137-144

137-138 You are righteous, Lord, and Your laws are right. The statutes You have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy.

139 My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore Your words.

140-141 Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and Your servant loves them. Though I am lowly and despised, I do not forget Your precepts.

142 Your righteousness is everlasting and Your law is true.

143-144 Trouble and distress have come upon me, but Your commands give me delight. Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live.

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Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 — Prophets appeal about continuing injustice

• God speaks of how faithfulness to His covenant will bring grace and blessing

1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

“The vision”… presents Isaiah’s prophecies from 740 to 685 BC as a unified whole. Most were directed to the priests and rulers in Jerusalem but some spoke to the northern kingdom of Israel which fell in 722 BC.

10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

“You rulers” – Isaiah likens them to the cities of the plain destroyed because of their persistent sin.

11 “The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to Me?” says the LORD. “I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

“Your sacrifices” – sincere sacrifice honoured the Lord, insincere offerings dishonoured, as Samuel said: “To obey is better than sacrifice,” 1 Sam. 15:22-23, reiterated by later prophets, Hosea 6:6, Amos 4:4, Mic. 6:6-8 and taken up by Jesus, Matt. 23:23. God seeks our hearts, not just our actions, 1 Cor. 4:5.

12 “When you come to appear before Me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of My courts?

“Trampling” – people holding wrong attitudes defiled the temple courtyard.

13-15 “Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all Mrefy being. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide My eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood!

“I hate… I hide… I am not listening” – prayer and worship that is a hypocritical act is “detestable” (v.13) and something the Lord, like all sin, cannot countenance. 

16-17 Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of My sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

“Stop doing wrong… learn to do right” – the Lord’s people should copy His defining characteristics of mercy and justice, Exodus 34:6-8.

18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

“Your sins… shall be… white” – grace and forgiveness, predicated on a change of attitude. Turning to obedience does not earn forgiveness but demonstrates sincerity — and faith.

19-20 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

“If you are willing” – Isaiah’s prophetic word, like Deut. 28, sets out a choice between blessing, or an enduring curse.

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

1 How long, Lord, must I call for help, but You do not listen? Or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?

“Violence!” — experienced in King Jehoiakin’s cruel and corrupt reign.

3-4 Why do You make me look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralysed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

“Tolerate wrongdoing” — it appears to the prophet that God is letting sin go unpunished, so there is no justice.

2:1 I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

“Station myself” — Habakkuk positions himself as a spiritual watchman, like a look-out on the ramparts.

2 Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.

“Write down” — like a royal messenger, he is to write the vision on a clay tablet to share it accurately, Isaiah 30:8.

3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it may linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

4 “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright — but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness.”

“Live by… faithfulness” — or live by his faith, much quoted in this form in the NT; live by holding firmly to what God has promised.

• For further study, Hebrews 10:38-39.

Reflection

SUMMARY An appeal for the ending of injustice and harsh rule begins Isaiah’s sequence of revelatory words from God, and also Habakkuk’s shorter prophecy. Isaiah’s appeal is addressed to harsh rulers and urges them to heed God’s instruction, stop doing wrong and experience His grace in a renewed relationship. Habakkuk shares the same concern but addresses his appeal to God, setting up a listening watch until God gives him a clear, revelatory word.

APPLICATION This introduces a fundamental and commonly-asked question about God and faith — why do bad things happen around godly people, and why do they persist, despite righteous prayer appeals? The lesson is that only faith can see God’s higher purpose and believe Him in His longer time-frame. In hearing and responding to God, faith is a prerequisite.

QUESTION What might God be saying about declining church attendance and how are we asking Him? 


Luke 19:1-10 — Jesus names Zacchaeus and asks to stay with him

• The despised tax collector finds faith to repent as he encounters the Lord

1-2 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.

“Jericho” — rebuilt by Herod the Great near the site of the old city, and the toll collection point in a prosperous area. 

“A chief tax collector” — although rich, notorious and socially shunned. This is a climax in Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem which highlights His love for the least and the lost

3-4 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him, since Jesus was coming that way.

“Climbed a sycamore-fig” — into a short and sturdy tree, accessible, but still a very undignified action for a rich man.

5-6 When Jesus reached the spot, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed Him gladly.

“He looked up and said” — Jesus knew his name, situation, need of Him and likely response. Later in the NT this kind of divine insight would be called a ‘word of knowledge’, 1 Cor. 12:8.

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

“The guest of a sinner” — people made critical remarks, as when Jesus went to the house of Matthew Levi, Luke 5:27-29.

8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

“Here and now I give” — the open-hearted generosity of someone whose heart has been changed by the gospel. Zacchaeus was pledging to repay as if the gains were theft.

9-10 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

 “Jesus said to him” —addressed to Zacchaeus but for the hearing of “all the people”, v.7.

“Son of Abraham” — considered an outcast, Jesus accepts Zacchaeus not just as a fellow Jew but as a true son of Abraham because in his response he walks in Abraham’s kind of faith, Romans 4:12. Galatians 3:7.

Reflection

SUMMARY Jesus is nearing the end of a circuitous final journey to Jerusalem in the course of which He both taught and demonstrated remarkable ministry to ‘outsiders’ such as a crippled woman, a leprous Samaritan, and a blind beggar. This highlighted the breadth of God’s love and grace for all — a challenge to those who sought to preserve the privileges of strict Judaism. Now, through prophetic insight, he identifies the despised chief tax collector Zacchaeus, as someone, however undeserving, seeking freedom from a life of dishonesty.

APPLICATION As Zacchaeus tries to draw close to Jesus and Jesus comes close to Zacchaeus, faith for repentance and a new start rises in him as the crowd hears him pledge restitution to the One he calls “Lord”. Wherever we are in life, whether relatively free or bound up in sinful confusion, in moving towards Jesus, we sense His response, faith rises and we experience change.

QUESTION What in Christian life would help us be more aware of Jesus speaking now and helping us change our lives?


2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 — Faith and love grows in persecution

This church of believers knew their calling and persevered in trusting God

1-2 Paul, Silas and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

“In God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” — a blessing which expresses both being coequal as the source and imparts grace and peace to them to them in their trials.

3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

“Faith in all the persecutions” — since the earlier letter, increasing persecution is being met by growing faith, 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14; 3:3-4. God will relieve their suffering, 2 Thess. 1:5-10 and judge their persecutors.

11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.

Paul was praying for church members to be increasingly aware of God’s call so that faith would be behind their every action. 

• For further study see 1 Thess. 2:12; compare also Eph. 4:1; Phil. 1:27; Col. 1:10.

12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Jesus… may be glorified” — for the Lord’s reality to be magnified through these faithful believers.

• For further study: 1 Thess. 2:14; Romans 8:17-18; Colossians 3:4, and also Isaiah 66:5.

Reflection

SUMMARY  The church in Thessalonica was planted by Paul, Silas and Timothy but persecution forced them to flee to Berea, and then to Athens. Timothy was back in Thessalonica encouraging the believers who were still suffering persecution a year later, as the second letter reveals. This was a church that was growing in “perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials”, v.4, where Christian witness was costly ands “every deed prompted by faith”, v.11

APPLICATION Continuing difficulty and especially unfair and unloving treatment by others draws out how much we trust God and take Him at His word. Difficulty endured with faith grows resilience and Christian maturity. Faith tested is faith tempered — the kind that wins through.

QUESTION If, as some say, Christians in the First World are beginning to suffer for the beliefs and values they hold, what will be the effect on the church?

PRAYER Lord, help us to get better at hearing You and more resolute in believing You.
We know that faith comes by hearing, and we have not given enough attention to listening.
Compared with believers in places of persecution, we know our faith lacks depth and our prayer lacks priority.
Help us in our desire to grow in You. Amen.

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  • See also this week’s linked article How Faith Comes: by Hearing and Believing What God Says
  • Watch this week’s video (15 min)
  • Listen to the podcast on The Living Word — Substack

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TLW is also available in a print edition which comes as a Bible-sized folder to print on A4 paper. Download the PDF here:

TLW43C-Oct-30.final-BookletDownload

Filed Under: Pentecost to Advent, Year C

Oct. 23: How ideas of merit we hold prevent us receiving God’s gracious gift

October 23, 2022 by Ian Greig Leave a Comment

Sun setting over tall mill building in Weobley, Herefordshire
Sun setting over Weobley Mill, Herefordshire

This is The Living Word Bible Study for groups and individuals, using the readings set for Sunday, October 23, 2022 (Revised Common Lectionary).

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Psalm 84:1-7

Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 — An appeal to God on the basis of His covenant

Joel 2:23-32 — The promise of being able to be right with God

Luke 18:9-14 — Humble repentance, not proud piety, finds God’s peace

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 — Paul knows his righteousness is in Jesus

• Theme: How ideas of merit we hold prevent us receiving God’s gracious gift


Psalm 84:1-7

1-2 How lovely is Your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God.

3-4 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young — a place near Your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; they are ever praising You.

5-6 Blessed are those whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

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• See also this week’s linked article, telling the story that unfolds through the Scriptures

• And watch this week’s video — YouTube (wide) for desktop, or Instagram (tall for mobiles)

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Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22 — An appeal to God to remember His covenant

Instructed not to intercede, the prophet appeals to God’s merciful reputation

7 Although our sins testify against us, do something, Lord, for the sake of Your name. For we have often rebelled; we have sinned against You.

“Our sins testify” — the prophet’s plea shows the other side of the coin to Joel’s prophecy, also in a time of severe drought, here seen as God’s judgment.

8 You who are the hope of Israel, its Saviour in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveller who stays only a night?

“Hope for Israel” — widely-used covenant name for God.

• For further study, read Jer. 17:7, 13, 50:7; Psalm 71:5, Acts 28:20, Col. 1:27, 1 Tim. 1:1

9 Why are You like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, Lord, and we bear Your name; do not forsake us!

“We bear Your name” — meaning, ‘we belong to you’. 

10 This is what the Lord says about this people: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.”

“They love to wander” — those called back to God may still hedge their security between Him and idolatrous worship.

19-20 Have You rejected Judah completely? Do You despise Zion? Why have You afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror. We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord, and the guilt of our ancestors; we have indeed sinned against You.

“Our wickedness… the guilt of our ancestors” — Jeremiah pleads for the people, recognising their sins, but his intercession has been decreed unacceptable, vv.11-12: Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not pray for the well-being of this people… I will not listen…’

21 For the sake of Your name do not despise us; do not dishonour Your glorious throne. Remember Your covenant with us and do not break it.

“Remember Your covenant” — despite the injunction, Jeremiah pleads the historical promise of God, Leviticus 26:44-45 — “… For their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors… to be their God…”

22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is You, Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in You, for You are the One who does all this.

“Send down showers… It is You, Lord” — the Israelites believed that weather was in the gift of God.

Joel 2:23-32 — The promise of being able to be right with God

23-24 Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains because He is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

“Be glad” — repeated unfaithfulness leads to judgment — like drought — but in the Lord’s greater plan, turning to Him releases blessing. Joel’s contemporary, Jeremiah, has a similar message.

“He sends… showers… as before” — rain withheld as God’s disfavour, Jeremiah 14:22 (below) and Jer. 3:3, Hosea 6:3. 

25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten — the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — My great army that I sent among you.

“The locust swarm” — symbolic of the invading armies.

“My great army” — in the sense that Yahweh is the sovereign lord of history.

26 “You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will My people be shamed.

“God, who has worked wonders” — in coming out of Egypt, Exodus 14:21-22, 15:11. Now the promise is to restore the crops and food supply.

27 “Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will My people be shamed.

“I am in Israel” — a reversal of the Lord’s departure, Ezekiel 10:18, see Ezekiel 8-11.

“You will know” — pointing to the coming reign of King Jesus, Zeph. 3:14-20.

28 “And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

 “Afterward” — beyond the immediate restoration, in the time of the Messiah.

“I will pour out My Spirit” — referenced by Peter speaking to the crowd on the day of Pentecost.

29 “Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out Mmy Spirit in those days.

“My servants” — now with no age, gender or social distinction, not just prophets, priests and other special people.

30-31 “I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

“I will show” — OT prophesies are best understood as both near-term (the drought ending) and long-term (Jesus, Son of God appears and will come again) in their fulfilment.

“Sun… turned to darkness” — eclipses and other celestial signs would herald the end-time judgment.

32 “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”

“Everyone who calls” — from Pentecost, all are invited into God’s personal covenant relationship; Gentiles and Jews together are saved through Christ, Romans 10:13.

Reflection

SUMMARY Israel and Judah have both shown consistent unfaithfulness, causing them to experience spiritual and terrestrial drought, but as the prophets intercede and the people turn again to God, His blessing is released.

APPLICATION What Joel saw in the Spirit was God’s long-range plan for a new covenant. This was to be a work of His Spirit that opened the way to knowing God in salvation for ordinary people — anyone — who confessed their need to God.

QUESTION How do these verses help us understand the relevance of the Pentecost outpouring for us?


Luke 18:9-14 — Humble repentance, not proud piety, finds God’s peace

Jesus contrasts a religious Pharisee unfavourably with a tax collector

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:

10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

“To the temple to pray” — people went to the temple to pray, often around the times of morning and evening sacrifice.

11-12 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“The Pharisee” — renowned for their observance the law, this one stood apart and made his case using “I” five times.

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“The tax collector” — a social outcast for making commission working with the Gentile rulers claimed no good works but freely acknowledged he was a sinner — pleading the grace and mercy of God alone.

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

“This man… went home justified” — as shocking for Jesus’ hearers as calling the Samaritan the “true neighbour”, Luke 10:30-37.

Reflection

SUMMARY Jesus’ story about two different men who went to the temple to offer devotion to God teaches the kind of approach that God responds to. Humble recognition of need for God’s mercy was prominent in one and lacking in the other.

APPLICATION Jesus’ teaching point is how any that exalt themselves will be humbled while the stance of unpretentious reliance on God’s character will be rewarded. Putting our assurance in an imagined religious status or formula, or anything that we substitute for God Himself, is the mistake made by many Pharisees of Jesus’ time.

QUESTION What in common church practice can hinder rather than facilitate our experiencing God?


2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 — Paul knows his righteousness is in Jesus

Awaiting execution, he is confident of the Lord drawing him safely to Himself

6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.

“A drink offering” — Paul pictures his death in the language of OT sacrifices.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

“Finished the race” — three decades as an envoy of the kingdom, 36-68 AD.

8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.

“Crown” — plaited garland placed on the head of a winner. Believers make a decision for salvation and receive the imputed righteousness of Christ — then run the lifetime race for the assured prize.

16 At my first defence, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.

“Deserted” — to stand with a man accused of a capital offence was risky. Paul, like Jesus, forgives those whose support flagged.

17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.

18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to Hhis heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

“Rescue me” — as Paul expected to die soon (v. 6) the rescue is spiritual, his transition to heavenly glory.

Reflection

SUMMARY Paul, under arrest in Rome, deserted by those who would speak for him at trial and awaiting execution, reflects on having completed the gruelling course set for him without any wavering of faith. He assures readers that despite the world’s judgment of him, he is assured that Jesus his Lord is the One who will speak for his right standing in the judgment that matters.

APPLICATION Paul’s qualification in heaven is not the decades of courageous mission enterprise or his suffering — but having finished the course keeping the faith. Trusting in Jesus as Saviour and Lord is everything.

QUESTION What were Paul’s shorthand phrases frequently used to convey the source and ground of our righteousness as those belonging to Christ?

PRAYER Lord, we ask Your forgiveness for ever thinking that some good thing we did, would count towards eternal life.
We renounce as false and unspiritual the part of us that in our humanness is like the self-assured Pharisee, making a show of his prayer in the Temple. 
We announce as true our need of You, and our humble reliance on Your goodness and mercy.
Only You can give us a new start, new life and new hope.
And only You can offer the defence for us before the judgment of heaven of truly having chosen to belong to You.
We receive again Your rule in our lives — Lord Jesus. Amen. 

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Filed Under: Pentecost to Advent, Year C

Oct 16: God’s commitment to us and ours to Him

October 16, 2022 by Ian Greig Leave a Comment

View down Scottish Highland glen towards Ben Nevis in background
View down Glen Nevis towards Ben Nevis in background

This is The Living Word study for Sunday, October 16, 2022

God’s commitment to us and ours to Him

Psalm 119:97-104  — Why we might want to live well

Jeremiah 31:27-34 — The new covenant written on submissive hearts

Luke 18:1-8 — Our persistence in prayer is what God is looking for

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 — How to stay true in the face of difficulty


• See also this week’s linked article which draws out the message of God’s desire for a faith-based relationship and partnership from all of these Bible readings.

• Watch this week’s 15-min. video which tells the story Getting Better at Faith — Learning to Live in Partnership with God

YouTube — for desktop & wide screen

Instagram — better for mobiles


Psalm 119:97-104

97 Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long.

98 Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.

99-100 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on Your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey Your precepts.

101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your word.

102-103 I have not departed from Your laws, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

104 I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

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Jeremiah 31:27-34 — The new covenant written on submissive hearts

Jeremiah foresees a time when God’s people will find His laws intuitive

27-28 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord.

“The days are coming” — a frequent saying in Jeremiah which underlines the word that follows.

“I will plant… with the offspring” — “plant” and “offspring” are from the same Hebrew root. God will populate both dwelling places and pastures, uniting Israel and Judah again.

29-30 “In those days people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes — their own teeth will be set on edge.

“Sour grapes” — from a popular but misguided saying which claimed that the present generation should not suffer judgment for the sins of ancestors. On person’s sin does affect others; at the same time each person is held accountable for the sin in their own lives, Deut. 24:16, Ezekiel 18:2.

31-32 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke My covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.

“A new covenant” — new compared with the covenant with Moses. This is the only explicit OT reference to the New Covenant made by Christ at the Last Supper and realised by Him in death, resurrection and ascension. This important passage is the longest sequence of OT verses to be quoted complete in the NT, Hebrews 8:8-12.

33-34 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.

“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

“Put My law in their minds” — the Old Covenant could only point towards a way of living that reflected the character of God. That would be made possible later, by the spiritual rebirth Jesus offered, and the Holy Spirit’s enabling, creating a heart desire for God’s ways.

Reflection

SUMMARY The law was a framework for righteous living, but it could only point to the objective — people in fellowship with God. And external rules create transgressions. What Jeremiah saw in the Spirit was people with changed and renewed hearts, who knew God personally and loved Him and His ways. 

APPLICATION In this new covenant, knowing God intimately changes us to the extent of giving us a new identity. We find we have new desire to live for God and, helped by His Spirit, a new capability in doing so. This is no longer about rules and rituals. It is about personal faith and close relationship.

QUESTION How does this reframe Jesus’ expectations and our response in, for example, the Sermon on the Mount?


Luke 18:1-8 — Our persistence in prayer is what God is looking for

Knowing God does not spell instant deliverance, but He won’t let us down

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

“Always pray” — especially in the context of difficult times, Luke 17:20-37. Believers learn to persevere by keeping on praying in faith.

2-3 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“A judge” — a civil judge notorious for his disdain of righteous justice is the centre of this parable, which argues from lesser to greater. A bad person’s reluctant action is contrasted with the ‘how much more’ of God’s loving and just provision.

4-5 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

“Come and attack me” — more colourful in the Greek which describes giving someone a black eye. The judge had no compassion but would act out of self interest.

6-7 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off?

“And will not God” — quite unlike the unjust judge, compassionate and strongly motivated by a desire for justice.

8 “I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

“Will He find faith” — as the time for Christ’s return approaches, Christians become more marginalised and an increasingly secular society becomes more and more alienated from God, bringing the question into new focus.

Reflection

SUMMARY Some parables are a picture of opposites, like the dismissive judge who represents the corrupt self-interest of the institution. By contrast, approaching God the Father is not about someone’s judgment of eligibility but coming through a relationship — not what you know (how to get action, how much to bribe, how to earn merit) but who you know — through Jesus.

APPLICATION Knowing the Father who is defined by His merciful nature and justice, but also the God of ultimate power, changes everything. How do we know Him in this way? It comes by faith and our way in is faith and this through the Son, Jesus. That is because Jesus, by His self-sacrifice which bore our sin, has made His special way for anyone who trusts in who He is and what He has done.

QUESTION When have you battled with an uncaring and faceless institution? How does this story suggest another means of intervention?


2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 — How to stay true in the face of difficulty

We need sound scriptural teaching to keep us close to God and His ways

14-15 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

“From infancy” — a Jewish boy began to learn the Hebrew Scriptures from about the age of five.

16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

“All Scripture” — refers to the OT but includes the growing body of Holy Spirit-inspired NT writing. At this time some of the gospels and letters were in circulation, and in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he defines quotations from the OT and from Luke’s gospel.

• For further study: 1 Tim. 5:18, Deut 25:4 and Luke 10:7.

4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this charge:

“This charge” — a weighty command in legal language which invokes Father and Son as witnesses

2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.

“In season and out of season” — Paul well understood the opposition which Timothy faced and gave him the solemn charge not to be swayed by it, or be tempted to compromise, but to use sound, accurate teaching to put right errors and encourage true faith in Jesus and His Good News.

3-4 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

“Sound doctrine” — may be what people need but not what they want, if it confronts the beliefs they hold. Timothy is to concentrate on Scriptural teaching that builds spiritual maturity. 

5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

“Do the work of an evangelist” — proclaiming the content of the gospel to those as yet outside the household of faith. This does not categorise Timothy as an evangelist, Eph. 4:11, but as with all Christians, one who will proclaim Christ to those who do not know Him.

Reflection

SUMMARY Any godly person facing into difficulty and injustice, like the woman being dismissed by the judge, or Timothy being dismissed by older and influential church members, has to resolve what they may know in their heads, but struggle to believe in their hearts. The new covenant that was Jeremiah’s prophetic insight bridges that gap. It also points to three important spiritual attributes that Timothy possessed, which are the ‘how to’ ways we work out Jeremiah’s visionary insight.

APPLICATION Timothy in Ephesus faced dismissive opposition — like the woman in Jesus’ parable — but he carried a wisdom beyond his years which came through three essential spiritual attributes, which can also be ours.

  • Firstly, he was equipped with a thorough knowledge of the God-breathed truth of Scripture.
  • Secondly, he was spiritually renewed through having come into a personal relationship with the Father through Jesus.
  • Thirdly, like most of those in the Early Church and especially as one coached by Paul, he knew to place his reliance on the leading and revealing work of the Holy Spirit.

There is always pressure to compromise, to veer to what people say they want, rather than steer for the Lord’s will — and we need to be confident about resisting this. It’s not about readily quoting verses to people, but when what we reason or share comes from a sound believing grasp of God’s word in its entirety, it will have the power of its good provenance. And we will be able to back it up, if that is called for.

QUESTION What can we learn from Christians in that Early Church, facing constant adversity, but confident about taking Word and Spirit to guide their practice? 

PRAYER Lord, as we come to You through Your Word we see character redeemed, and heart and understanding renewed. We find Your commitment of love and care affirmed in Jesus’ teaching, and Your Word upheld as our utterly reliable standard.

Forgive us where we have compromised, made accommodations, and veered towards pleasing people before honouring You, our Lord and God.

As You choose to make us Your partners in bringing Your kingdom order, so we ask You to protect and guide and empower us to be those trusting partners You seek.

 In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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SUBSIDIARY STORY: Jacob’s life-changing encounter with God

Genesis 32:22-31 is also set for October 16 as an alternative OT reading,

This is where Jacob meets God in a struggle and emerges a changed man with a new name, Israel (‘God Overcomes’) and a new identity. It is a type, or pre-figure, of the spiritual transformation we experience when we submit to God by trusting Jesus.

In the story, Jacob finds himself at night by the Jabbok river that flows west into then Jordan, and a man wrestles with him until dawn. Jacob shows strong will and endurance until he suffers an injury, but still maintains he will not let the other go until he receives a blessing. The story is ambiguous about whether Jacob is contending with an angel or with an appearance of God, but he later names the place Peniel, ‘Face of God’ because he considered that there, he saw God face to face, yet his life was spared. He stayed true through this severe test, but at the same time his life and identity was transformed by it — as ours is when we meet with Jesus and surrender to Him.

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Filed Under: Pentecost to Advent, Year C

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Welcome to The Living Word

You get a lot more out of the Sunday service readings if they are already speaking to you. TLW is about reading and re-reading these Scriptures with some commentary to bring out what is hidden and make connections with cross references. This is different from liturgy because it is a Bible study, putting the Bible passages in sequence from OT, through the NT gospel era, and then through the lens of the post-resurrection, early church in the power of the Spirit. Enabling this progressive revelation points to a theme.  The translation used is the readable and widely-used 2011 edition of the New International Version (NIV) Bible. Commentary is drawn from a wide range of sources and is Bible-centric and theologically neutral. As we read and reflect and allow the Holy Spirit to help us hear God through His word during the week, we prepare ourselves to hear afresh and receive the Sunday sermon in church or chapel.

For convenience, use the ‘Subscribe’ box below to receive a short email with the Bible passage and notes for each weekday (and that’s all!).

Unsubscribing is just as easy.

A little about me and my vision for The Living Word

I live in the Marches, a green and beautiful expanse of hills between England and Wales where churches and chapels share duty to the Christian faithful in every valley, and churchgoing is still part of the community life. However, there are few Bibles to be seen in these buildings, and home-based groups for fellowship and Bible study are rare.

I want to encourage Sunday worshippers in churches and chapels to enjoy reading the Bible during the week, to get used to hearing God for themselves through His word, and to be  spiritually prepared for the message they will hear on Sunday from the lectionary readings they all share. It is no substitute for meeting and worshipping together, nor for Holy Spirit-inspired preaching. It supports both by encouraging the personal growth of church and chapel members of any denomination. It offers faith encouragement for those no longer able to, or no longer wanting to take part in, formal physical church.

My background is not in churches that use the lectionary and I bring a breadth of tradition and spiritual understanding to the writing.  I have pastored a number of churches and been involved in a variety of other missional initiatives with a ‘kingdom of God’ agenda.

As well as The Living Word and its weekly video I also post regularly on www.freshbread.today and www.thelivingword.substack.com with a podcast as well as video and written content. There is also a Facebook page at fb.com/TLWbiblestudy

Revd Ian Greig BD (Hons), DPS

SEE ALSO other Living Word Publications

Substack newsletter and podcast (free subscription) — audio podcast, video and written content all in one place

Fresh Bread Today — the freshest bake, with a bit of a tang, unpackaged and uncut. His word to live by, today.

Believe the Good News – finding the good news and encouragement all through the Bible

GLOW – God’s Love Over Weobley, encouraging prayer and spiritual fellowship. With a local flavour for this NW Herefordshire village.

 

 

 

 

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