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Tag: deuteronomy

Life in the Holy Spirit
Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to those God the Father draws to Him, but Who is this unseen spirit from the LORD God?

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive…
John 7:38-39a ESV the invitation of Jesus

Promise of the Holy Spirit

Heart of the Spirit

Psalm 111:1

Every illustration of the Holy Spirit fails in part because spirit is unseen, a concept we explored last time in Life in the Spirit. One Hebrew concept of the place of the spirit is the heart. Moses tells us of the LORD’s heart (prior to the Shema):

5:29 מִֽי־יִתֵּ֡ן וְהָיָה֩ לְבָבָ֨ם זֶ֜ה לָהֶ֗ם לְיִרְאָ֥ה אֹתִ֛י וְלִשְׁמֹ֥ר אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֹתַ֖י כָּל־הַיָּמִ֑ים לְמַ֨עַן יִיטַ֥ב לָהֶ֛ם וְלִבְנֵיהֶ֖ם לְעֹלָֽם׃

‘Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!’ – Deuteronomy 5:29

But Scripture also points to the inherited evil in the hearts of mankind.

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
There is no one who does good.
Psalm 53:1

Jesus cautions us, explaining the heart as the source of the words flowing from our mouth. The conversation has been about water and cleansing.

“But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
Matthew 15:18-19

John 7:

Once again in Jerusalem at the Feast of the Booths the crowds look for His return after Jesus gave signs confirming that He IS the Messiah of God.

11 So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?”

12 There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.”

This time the controversy with Jesus brings the Lord to promise the Holy Spirit to those God chooses.

Note that we do not initiate it, but must only respond to God the Father IF He draws us toward the Christ, Jesus.

Rivers of Living Water

37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
the Good News of John 7:38 NKJV

Do you believe?

Earlier in His ministry to the Jews, Jesus had met a woman at a well of Jacob along a road in Samaria.

John 4:

9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?

“Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
John 4:13b-14 NASB

Even prior to this sign that Jesus is a Prophet (and more), the Lord converses with one of the most learned Pharisees about the Holy Spirit.

John 3:

“Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” …

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
John 3:5-6 NASB

the Holy Spirit is spirit

and that Spirit is life

When Jesus speaks to Nicodemus, a teacher and ruler of the Jews about the Holy Spirit, He points directly to the Spirit of God!

Just one example here to consider:
```
Now these are the last words of David.
 David the son of Jesse declares,
 The man who was raised on high declares,
 The anointed of the God of Jacob,
 And the sweet psalmist of Israel,
“The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me,
 And His word was on my tongue. 
- 2 Samuel 23:1-2 NASB
```
Later as Jesus enters Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey for His Passover Sacrifice on the Cross, crowds of Jews will praise the Lord:

Hosanna, Son of David!

Nicodemus and many others had already heard of the signs and reliable witness by the Prophet John the Baptist, confirming Jesus receiving the Holy Spirit of God the Father.

Jesus receives the Holy Spirit

Consider a young Jewish man born in Bethlehem of Judea, taken to Egypt as a child to return to Nazareth and Capernaum in the Roman Syrian province of Galilee. Even as a boy Jesus had visited the Temple.

He later returns regularly to Jerusalem with confirmation of His own deity by a Prophet nearly all of Judea has recognized.

John 1:

15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” – John 1:26-27

32 And John bore witness, saying,

“I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me,

‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

The Son receives the Holy spirit from the Father

Jesus describes Himself as the ‘Son of Man,’ yet He IS the Very Image of God the Father walking among the men of an unredeemed Israel.

He lived without sin before receiving the Spirit, praying directly to the Father, but now a part of the LORD, of which He IS a living man receives the spirit from above – the Holy Spirit.

The familiar imagery of a dove may mislead eyes which cannot see. The Gospel records something mysterious and undescribable (much like angels) that the Spirit descends like a dove, He (the Holy Spirit) descends from the sky upon Jesus.

Then the LORD God the Father SPEAKS from Heaven confirming the Jesus IS the SON.

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY

Is your flesh cleansed enough to receive the living water from the Holy Spirit?

It cannot be, unless the LORD draws you to the well of the Living Water of the Christ, the Messiah Jesus. And then, you must receive Him, the Son of Sacrifice and eternal life.

6:2 שְׂרָפִים עֹמְדִים מִמַּעַל לֹו שֵׁשׁ כְּנָפַיִם שֵׁשׁ כְּנָפַיִם לְאֶחָד בִּשְׁתַּיִם יְכַסֶּה פָנָיו וּבִשְׁתַּיִם יְכַסֶּה רַגְלָיו וּבִשְׁתַּיִם יְעֹופֵֽף׃

Isaiah 6:

… I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

And one cried unto another, and said,

Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isaiah 6:3b KJV

And the Prophet Isaiah says (witnessing these angels above angels, but below the Lord Jesus in obedience):
```
Woe is me! 
for I am undone; 
because I am a man of unclean lips, 
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: 
for mine eyes have seen the King, 
the LORD of hosts.
```
John the Baptist, Prophet of God who witnessed the Holy Spirit descend upon the Son Jesus says:

“I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

And before the return of Jesus to the Father He testifies to the Disciples drawn to follow Him:

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
John 14:26 NASB

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

– The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John
January 18, 2020
Because the days are evil – Prepared for Judgment

Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign LORD,
for the awesome day of the LORD’s judgment is near.
The LORD has prepared his people for a great slaughter
and has chosen their executioners.
Zephaniah 1:7 NLT

Not so Prepared

Where is my hope now? What will happen to the one who has not anticipated the inevitable and prepared for the day of judgment?

We claimed the Lord; then life proceeded with so many unexpected turns in our narrow path of faith. I was prepared for life, yet never expected death.

“I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” says the LORD.

“I will sweep away people and animals alike.
I will sweep away the birds of the sky and the fish in the sea.
I will reduce the wicked to heaps of rubble,
and I will wipe humanity from the face of the earth,” says the LORD.
Zephaniah 1:3 NLT

“I will consume man and beast… And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked… says the LORD.” Why did I not believe the word of the Lord? Were my eyes blinded to the scripture before us?

הַרְנִ֤ינוּ גֹויִם֙ עַמֹּ֔ו כִּ֥י דַם־עֲבָדָ֖יו יִקֹּ֑ום וְנָקָם֙ יָשִׁ֣יב לְצָרָ֔יו וְכִפֶּ֥ר אַדְמָתֹ֖ו עַמֹּֽו׃ פ
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people;
For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
And render vengeance to His adversaries;
He will provide atonement for His land and His people.”
Deuteronomy 32:43 WLC;NKJV

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Romans 12:19, quoting Deuteronomy 32:25

But we knew this.

Why then were we not prepared?

Zephaniah

12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who are complacent,
who are like wine left on its dregs,
who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing,
either good or bad.’

Of course, the Lord executed judgment against Judah. For his chosen ones, a nation set aside as holy before the gentiles, fell back into their sin of idolatry – the worship of gods who are not the LORD!

14 The great day of the Lord is near—
near and coming quickly.
The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;
the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.
15 That day will be a day of wrath—
a day of distress and anguish,
a day of trouble and ruin,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness—
16 a day of trumpet and battle cry
against the fortified cities
and against the corner towers.

17 “I will bring such distress on all people
that they will grope about like those who are blind,
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their entrails like dung.

In the fire of his jealousy
the whole earth will be consumed,
for he will make a sudden end
of all who live on the earth.
Zephaniah 1:18b NIV

That was then — in another land at another time. This is now, here. Yet we flee the inevitable!

Has the Lord not reserved His righteous Judgement on the earth and its idolaters for a Day to come? Will the trumpet not sound?

Ignoring the deep darkness

I knew a brother who sat on a bench in the graveyard, speaking to his departed loved one measureless hours as if this lost soul had never departed. In charred remains of a building nearby roamed restless souls tormenting the faithful, tempting the saints.

I feel your presence, he laments. Why have you not departed this scorched earth for the waterless places where souls are not quenched?

You, blinded flesh who must see the unseen in the darkness of sin – you do not believe. Yet unseen powers would lure you and me into the pit of destruction. For the dreams of the prophets you have never believed.

Psalm 82

Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.

They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are unstable.

I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are children of the Most High.

But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.”

קוּמָ֣ה אֱ֭לֹהִים שָׁפְטָ֣ה הָאָ֑רֶץ כִּֽי־אַתָּ֥ה תִ֝נְחַ֗ל בְּכָל־הַגֹּויִֽם׃
Arise, O God, judge the earth;
For You shall inherit all nations.
Psalm 82:8 Masoretic Text; NKJV

Inevitable death, Inevitable Judgment

Isaiah 14: excerpt

9 “Hell from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.

“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
Isaiah 14:12 NKJV

13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’

15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.

And I ask you:

Is this the one over whom you revel, the unseen spirit of darkness you celebrate this night?

For by his deceit he would pull you easily down to the pit with him.

By the sweat of your brow you have eaten the bread of a difficult life, but remember you are dust… and to dust you will return.

The days are evil and sin clings near to the dying flesh. Have you not prepared for this time, rather than reveling in a brief respite from a quickened failing flesh?

Prepared for Judgment

Have you put on your armor of light? Do you bow down to the Lord God and Christ Jesus, who IS and will return to judge all mankind?

The angel of darkness may deceive you into believing any lie, but God IS and in Christ the Lord’s mercy is offered to sinners.

Perhaps you believe his lie that you will return to dust and then that’s it… nothing more… no accountability before God for what you have done in this brief life in the flesh.

Would a good God not judge those who have wronged the righteous? Shall evil triumph over good?

Not at all. For the Lord is good, full of mercy and love for His created ones. Therefore He sent His only Son to the world and out of His great mercy paid the great price of sin on the Cross so that those who love the Lord could be saved. Justice is served by the grace of Christ Jesus, sacrificed for us.

Hebrews 9:

He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Prepared by faith

Hebrews 11:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the men of old gained approval.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible…

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

What is your verdict?

Knowing that your end will come, knowing that the end of the world as we know it will come; have you, like Noah, prepared for these dark days by faith? Do you seek the Lord Jesus who will return on the clouds as promised by scripture?

The LORD has prepared a way of escape from your sin, though Jesus Christ. By his holy sacrifice for our sin God the Father has redeemed the chosen and restored our hope in these last days.

The days are evil – you see it – and ever so brief by comparison to all eternal time beyond the judgment.

Have you prepared to meet your Maker — to bow before the Throne of Judgment of your eternal soul?

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He has prepared a new body for you for a new heaven and earth.

So also has the Lord prepared a place of punishment for Satan – a horrific place of punishment and torment for fallen angels, fallen men and fallen women who chose evil over good. The verdict is the same for all sinners:

GUILTY!

Yet by the grace of Christ Jesus, will you accept God’s love and forgiveness?

Prepare… for the days are evil and you do not know the hour or the day of your death and then … your judgment.

October 31, 2019
Elders – a letter from Peter – 9
Peter has just cautioned the church that judgment begins with God’s household. He encourages all the believers suffering for Christ to keep fervent in your love. And in an appropriate exhortation for leadership of the family Peter urges wives to be submissive to your own husbands. Now the Apostle specifically exhorts the elders of the church.

Church Leadership

Before we address this divisive denominationalized topic written to a first century church in terms of today’s church, let’s begin with a contemporized paraphrase of these verses from the first letter of Peter by J.B. Phillips.

1 Peter 5:

A word to your leaders

5 1-4 Now may I who am myself an elder say a word to you my fellow-elders? I speak as one who actually saw Christ suffer, and as one who will share with you the glories that are to be unfolded to us. I urge you then to see that your “flock of God” is properly fed and cared for. Accept the responsibility of looking after them willingly and not because you feel you can’t get out of it, doing your work not for what you can make, but because you are really concerned for their well-being. You should aim not at being “little tin gods” but as examples of Christian living in the eyes of the flock committed to your charge. And then, when the chief shepherd reveals himself, you will receive that crown of glory which cannot fade.

Who is an Elder?

I am not an elder of my church. Is he writing to me?

Certainly Peter will follow this public exhortation with expected application to those humble members of their churches. And in a larger sense, he writes not to an individual group of Christ worshipers, but to the church as the whole body of Christ.

Peter is not their Pastor, Priest, teacher or even a member of most churches to whom he writes, yet he clearly claims his authority “as your fellow elder.”

Before we address this position which Peter claims from the greek word which he uses, συμπρεσβύτερος [sympresbyteros], let’s look back a bit to God’s presence before elders.

Elders of the Hebrews

We first hear of the elders in Genesis 50, transition in the Books of Moses to the exodus of a captive Hebrew people enslaved in Egypt.

So Joseph went up to bury his father, and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the household of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household; they left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen. – Genesis 50:7-8 NASB

Scripture refers to both ‘the elders of his [Joseph’s] household and all the elders of the land.

Elders – zaqen – זָקֵן

It is a description of older men, or men with familial and community authority. The LORD gives authority over families (households) and those with authority will be called before the LORD to account for those over whom they have authority. (We 21st century ‘christians,’ even Jews often struggle with such authority delegated from Almighty God.)

God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.

“Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying,
“I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.
Exodus 3:15-16

How like a loving Father does the LORD show concern for those who worship Him.

Yet Moses asked the LORD for help in governing these difficult people. (Aren’t we, the church, just as rebellious when it comes to Authority?) The LORD gave us elders to judge our own family, the followers of God.

Exodus 24:

וְאֶל־מֹשֶׁ֨ה אָמַ֜ר עֲלֵ֣ה אֶל־יְהוָ֗ה אַתָּה֙ וְאַהֲרֹן֙ נָדָ֣ב וַאֲבִיה֔וּא וְשִׁבְעִ֖ים מִזִּקְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶ֖ם מֵרָחֹֽק׃
Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance.
Exodus 24:1 WLC [Hebrew]; NASB [English]

4 Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord…

7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” …

9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.

Moses prepares the followers with him, interceding as their Priest returning them to holiness (or pureness), making sacrifices and covenants before God. The LORD shows mercy to the sinful leaders of the Hebrews. Moses intercedes for them, then they see the Lord God!

12 Now the Lord said to Moses,

“Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.”

13 So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. But to the elders he said,

“Wait here for us until we return to you…

Elders of the cities and other lands

The leadership of elders is accepted practice and culture at every level from family to city, from state or province to nation. Eldership is not exclusive to the Hebrews, Israel or later Judah. Neither is our tendency toward personal freedom and resistance to any authority by man or God.
- Then the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the LORD, and the bull shall be slain before the LORD. – Leviticus 4:15
- The LORD therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. Numbers 11:16
- So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam and repeated Balak’s words to him. Numbers 22:7
- then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Deuteronomy 19:12
The LAW of the Hebrews is a higher Law from the Lord God. Furthermore, the Hebrews agreed to the Commandments of the LORD. Yet all sin and fall short of the Law.

Moses had saved the Hebrews from Egypt, but he could not save them from their sin.

Deuteronomy 31:

Elders did not lead a people who just wandered in and out of the land or the Hebrew tent of meeting.

Joshua, David, judges, prophets, elders of every generation — all are called by the Authority of God. The Hebrews they led had agreed to be led by the LORD.

9 So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel…

12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law.

26 “Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you… Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them.
Deuteronomy 31:26,28 NASB

The presence of the LORD has scattered them,
He will not continue to regard them;
They did not honor the priests,
They did not favor the elders.
Lamentations 4:16 of Jeremiah when Jerusalem fell & the Temple was burned ~567 BC

Church Elders of the New Testament

Elders – presbyteros – πρεσβύτερος

Strong’s Definitions
πρεσβύτερος presbýteros, pres-boo’-ter-os; comparative of πρέσβυς présbys (elderly); older; as noun, a senior; specially, an Israelite Sanhedrist (also figuratively, member of the celestial council) or Christian “presbyter”:—elder(-est), old.

A general description of elders in the Church would be: among the Christians, those who presided over the assemblies (or churches) The NT uses the term bishop, elders, and presbyters interchangeably.

Although Bishops and Archbishops, Pastors and Popes may be called elders of the church, authority from the Lord is not exclusive to any. With no regard to title or station, Christ, the Head of the body of the church will judge all.

Peter, then, addresses the elders of the church in terms of their own behavior as examples of Christ Jesus and responsibility to their own small flocks as Peter well-knew Jesus had shown to the Twelve Disciples.

1 Peter 5:

I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed:

Peter addresses these men as a fellow elder. He is not of their church or lording it over their church, but addressing them as a humble brother encouraging their leaders.

Christians tend to look askance at the Jewish context of elders because of the Gospel record of the elders challenging Jesus. However Peter does not challenge any of the elders as if he is one who knows better or as even as an Apostle of higher authority.

2 Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

Peter then addresses our example of Jesus.

4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Yes, Jesus IS resurrected, as witnessed by Peter, who knows directly from the Lord that Christ will give glory to those who serve Him faithfully.

5 In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.

Are you younger than the elders of your church? Of course. Therefore listen to their wise leadership.

Humbly subject yourselves to them as Christ subjected Himself to the Father, even suffering death on a cross for our sins.

All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because
God resists the proud
but gives grace to the humble.

Peter asks every saint of the church to clothe yourselves with humility toward all members of the body of Christ. He then quotes a familiar Proverb, memorized between father and son.

Proverbs 3:

My son, don’t forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commands;
2 for they will bring you
many days, a full life, and well-being.
3 Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you.
Tie them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will find favor and high regard
with God and people.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways know him,
and he will make your paths straight.
7 Don’t be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and turn away from evil…

33 The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous;
34 He mocks those who mock,
but gives grace to the humble.
35 The wise will inherit honor,
but he holds up fools to dishonor.

Conclusion

Peter concludes his letter advising this same humility which so often eluded him as a Disciple of Jesus. The Lord led with such humble gentleness and exemplary grace.

Peter advises the saints of Christ’s body not to become fools in your actions toward your brothers in Christ. And do not mock the fools of this passing world so filled with sin. The saints must become Christ-like in all ways.

Hebrew Scripture would have easily come to mind for these members of first century churches. Yet Peter’s exhortation applies aptly to you and to me.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.
1 Peter 5:6-7

‘You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day. – Deuteronomy 5:15 NASB

Now the LORD said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. – Joshua 3:7

Psalm 69

Perhaps from this excerpt below we might look into the hearts of Peter’s persecuted first century readers of his letter, lifted up by a song of their familiar worship.

A Psalm of David.
Save me, O God,
For the waters have threatened my life…
I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God…
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Dishonor has covered my face…

But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, at an acceptable time;
O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness,
Answer me with Your saving truth…

Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it;
Ransom me because of my enemies!

But I am afflicted and in pain;
May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high.
I will praise the name of God with song
And magnify Him with thanksgiving…

The humble have seen it and are glad;
You who seek God, let your heart revive.

Resist temptation

8 Be sober-minded, be alert.

Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. 9 Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

Did you know that you are not the only one who suffers for Christ?

Do you acknowledge the same powers and principalities who opposed Jesus also tempt you?

Not all angels and spirits bring good news from God. Some heavenly messengers to mortals follow the fallen and deceitful angels of darkness and rebellion against the Lord God. If they oppose Jesus and you suffer for His Name, certainly you will join other saints faithful to the Lord.

an Encouragement and Praise

10 The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while.

11 To him be dominion forever. Amen.

a Postscript

Once Peter concludes his letter to the church exhorting its members and elders and closes with a general praise, we learn more about others who support the delivery of Peter’s good news to the churches.

12 Through Silvanus, a faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly in order to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God.

Peter likely dictated his letter to Silvanus, also known as Silas. Christian leaders like Silvanus and Timothy often worked with Peter or Paul. Letters to the church often express an understood Spirit-led leadership of like-minded elders of the church. We see this also in Peter’s next greeting.

13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son.

That is, John Mark, writer of the Gospel, much dictated by Peter and other Apostles.

Who is ‘she who is in Babylon?’ Some suggest that it may be a veiled reference to Peter’s wife, who accompanied him in his journeys to spread the Gospel. As to the true location of ‘Babylon,’ commentators differ. At least three viable locations seem possible, including Rome, a Roman outpost in Egypt and a city in the area of ancient Babylon (Mesopotamia).

Final greetings

14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.

φίλημα ἀγάπη – philēma agapē. It is the kiss with which, as a sign of fraternal affection, Christians were accustomed to welcome or dismiss their companions in the faith. And agapē love, demonstrable affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love in Christ finds its root in phileō and philos – to treat affectionately or kindly, to welcome, befriend; one who associates familiarly with one, a companion.

This personal love of God becomes evident in every relationship between brothers of the body of Christ; that is, the Church of which He is the head.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ Jesus, Amen.
1 Peter 5:14b
September 30, 2019