The Living Word

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

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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?

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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?

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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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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

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• 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

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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?

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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?

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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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