Matthew 7:15-29 from the Message Translation

Matthew 7:15-29 from the Message:

^13-14“Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.

^15-20“Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.

^21-23“Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance— isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’

^24-25“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.

^26-27“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

^28-29When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.

 

Psalms 16-18

Psalm 16

This Psalm appears to be a song declaring loyalty to Yahweh, particularly the first stanza of the song. (verses 1-4)

Verses 5-6 are interesting. In Israel, all of the 12 tribes received physical land as an inheritance, each tribe receiving land between boundary lines, except for the Levites, God was there portion. Verses 5-6 honor both of these realities; the writer embraces the love of God experienced in the land God provided, but also in the reality that the Levites had,  of having God himself. It is a beautiful picture of communal love and appreciation.

Verses 7-11 are amazing, the idea of having a glad heart, a worshipful tongue and a hope that God would rescue him is encouraging. I like this idea of a ‘path of life’, not an episodic experience, but a rhythm by which the worshipper lived by.

Psalm 17

This Psalm is so vulnerable and real. I think that the writer is scared because people are hunting him down (v.9-12) and he is trying to discover if it is something that he did or if it is because of another reason. He reminds God of the purity in his life and to search him to find some reason why this is justifiable circumstances.

However, he turns his bewilderment into a lament, a stretching out to God to help him. As he stretches out to God, a confidence rises within him. God watches over him as he sleeps, therefore, he will awake in the morning.

Psalm 18

This Psalm is also located in 2 Samuel 22, a song written by David after the battles with King Saul were over. The Psalm is filled with different types of moods and styles, it is not unlike a compilation CD or a playlist on an iPod.

Verses 1-3 are a typical opening to a royal Psalm, but have a more ‘intimate’ feel to them. (I love the Lord)

Verses 4-6- The psalmist was hunted, but no matter where the writer was, Yahweh heard him, even if the cry were to come from Sheol.

Verses 7-15- This vivid picture of God (theophany) has an interesting tension, for God is both hidden but revealed, which is pretty good theology and what the average worshipper experiences, right.

 

I didn’t finish Psalm 18, sorry

Psalms 13-15

Psalm 13
This psalm is a lament to God because the writer’s opponents have the upper hand. It is interesting that the writer is concerned about the ‘how long’ this trouble will last, repeating that question 4 times in the first 3 verses.

It is interesting to see the writer struggle with thoughts that God has forgotten him. (v.1) Perhaps this is the equivalent of us wondering if we ‘upset’ God, provoking him to punish us. The idea of God ‘hiding his face’ is indicative for OT pre-exilic language. God’s presence was his face. The writer feels that God is hiding his face/presence from him.

In spite of this, the writer is hopeful that God will answer and find freedom from his enemies and circumstances. The future reality of present hope is revealed in verses 5-6, “I will sing…” (used twice) shows confidence now of a future certainty.

This is an amazing Psalm. It speaks of a mark of maturity; being confident now (even when my circumstances haven’t changed yet) of God’s delayed answers. I heard recently a saying that is interesting, “God’s first language is silence.” Being comfortable with the silence of God is a mark of maturity in the believer.

 

Psalm 14
Psalm 14 is almost identical to Psalm 53; some verses in these Psalms also make an appearance in Romans.

In the OT, ‘fool’ is a person who ignores reality… ultimately denies God’s existence. The writer connects cognitive belief and moral action, something that we should continually examine for ourselves, “How does what we believe inform who we are and how we live?”

God is active in the Psalm. He is looking down and searching (perhaps counting) if anyone seeks him. One commentator notes that the Hebrew name of God changes from (elohim) to (YHWH)… “God’s search is not restricted to those who have been informed of Israel’s God… the result of this polling is unanimous… all have turned aside.”

Verses 4-7 switches from a general look of ‘the sons of men’ to God’s covenant people. God’s search in verses 1-3 includes Israel with the rest, because they have been sent to exile for doing evil. However, God has great concern for a certain group in this psalm ‘the poor’ .(verses 5-6) Ultimately, this Psalm ends with hope that God would return his people from captivity to ‘Zion’, a poetic and prophetic picture of a perfected people of God.

 

Psalm 15
This Psalm may have been strategically placed after Psalm 14 and seeks to answer those who may live in Zion, God’s holy hill. (verse 1)

This Psalm is indicative of other parts of the Psalm that, when read in order, a collection of Psalms display a journey to the Temple for worship. This Psalm starts with meditative and contemplative questions that the worshipper should ask himself/herself as they approach God’s Temple. This is not a journey of permanent residence, but of pilgrimage.

The personal inquiries of verses 2-5 cover a multitude of behaviors and patterns. There are ten instructions here which resemble the 10 Commandments of Israel’s covenant ceremony in Exodus. The main difference here is that the original 10 “Words” had 4 commands concerning following God and 6 concerning loving others. The 1o words in this Psalm have everything to do with our neighbors. Here is a list of the commands:

- Personal conduct is godly
- Speech is truth “from the heart”
- He treats his neighbor with fairness
- He honors the people of God, but not those who oppose the Lord
- He fulfills his promises to his neighbors
- He is honest with money

It is interesting to see that Temple worship is not only concerned with the criminal activity of the community, but also the societal dealings in relationships. Every worshipper must sift and discern ‘where they are’. Just because they are not committing a criminal offense are they ‘off the hook’. Perhaps this idea carries over to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount teachings of ‘reconciling with one’s brother’ before offering a gift on the altar of worship. (see Mt 5:23-26)

This Psalm ends with a promise that those who do this will never be shaken.

 

Psalms 10-12

Psalm 10
Commentators feel that this Psalm is connected to Psalm 9. The two are connected and make an acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 10 starts with the Hebrew letter lamed. The conflict in this Psalm is between the ‘wicked’ and those who are helpless against them.

Commentators note the parallels of the praises and laments from Psalm 9 and 10:
Psalm 9:9 and Psalm 10:1
Psalm 9:12 and Psalm 10:11
Psalm 9:15 and Psalm 10:9
Psalm 9:16 and Psalm 10:2
Psalm 9:9-10 and Psalm 10:8
Psalm 9:5 and Psalm 10:5

The first part of this Psalm is filled with grief and apathy that God would save his people for the senseless and brutal treatment they are getting from the wicked.

However, verses 12-18 present a pivot in the text. It appears that the writer does indeed remember the goodness of God illustrated in Psalm 9. There are more sets of parallels in the second half of the Psalm:
Psalm 9:12 and Psalm 10:12
Psalm 9:12 and Psalm 10:13 & 15
Psalm 9:9-10 and Psalm 10:14

Verses 16-18 further express the writer’s plea for God to remember his faithfulness:
Psalm 9:7 and Psalm 10:16
Psalm 9:5-6 and Psalm 10:16
Psalm 9:18 and Psalm 10:16-17
Psalm 9:8-9 and Psalm 10:18

Psalms 9-10 help me to be thankful for commentary help; I would have never picked up on this with casual study/reading.

Psalm 11
This Psalm has a lament (v.2-3) but no plea, just trust in God (v.1, 4-7). One commentator feels that this was a communal liturgical Psalm to encourage people to have hope during social threat.

I think that there is a stunning image here between the wicked who appear to be stalking the righteous in order to bring them ruin (v.2-3) and how God watches and examines the wicked and notices what they are doing. (v.4-6) No injustice will be unnoticed.

The Psalm ends with a call for the righteous to ‘see his face.’ (v.7) There seems to be a stalking/watching/examining/seeking theme throughout this liturgy.

Psalm 12
This Psalm juxtaposes the wicked and God. The first 2 verses highlight the plea from the writer, that the righteous are few and that it is difficult to follow God in their time/culture/situation.

Verses 3-4 reveal God’s judgment upon those with flattering lips and the proud who consider the future is safe because of their ability perhaps ‘talk their way out of trouble.’

Verses 5-6 show a promise of God to protect his people and respond to their plea. As the writer mentioned earlier on how we cannot trust the words of the wicked, he then now says that God can be trustworthy, that his words are flawless and pure. (v.6)

The writer closes with a petition for safety because if the wider culture honors vile things, the wicked can walk about freely. I really like this Psalm; it is an honest prayer. The writer is honest about the current state of his world and knows that he can trust God, even if things don’t seem to be getting better.

1 John 5:16-17

A question about what this peculiar text was asked in Bible Study tonight so I thought that I’d give a stab at it. I don’t know if I can give it justice.

A little bit of background, if the gospel of John and the letters are connected by the same author and context, we see two different moods. The gospel is so uplifting and has high hopes after the resurrection. It appears that false teachers and discouraging events crept in and stolen the mood. The letter of 1 John is serious about calling the believers to holiness and to experience the true life that God has to offer through Jesus Christ.

In this 1 John 5:16-17, John seems to allude to the fact that there is a sin that leads to death and one that does not lead to death. The basic idea is that if someone commits a sin that doesn’t lead to death, that we should pray for them and if they commit a sin that leads to death, we shouldn’t pray for them.

Before these verses, John spends time talking about the certainty that someone has in prayer if they pray God’s will. (v.13-15) It is simple, if we pray God’s will we have confidence that he hears us. If we don’t pray God’s will, our prayers will not move anything. However, God reveals His will, thus giving us confidence to pray to him.

God has a limit on how far he can extend forgiveness, so prayer will not amount to anything. ‘Life’ is used 13 times in the book of 1 John, 7 times in chapter 5. The life mentioned here is the life of God that awakens people to the understanding of God in Jesus Christ; eternal life. The death mentioned in this passage, on the other hand, is not just a natural death, but a life void of God. (cf 1 John 3:14) These folks refuse to love God. The people who commit sins that leads to death have made their decision, at least at that point, they do not want to seek God. It is never wrong to pray, but prayers for these folks are not going to move them, they’ve made up their mind.

John does want them to pray for people who sin in the community. 1 John 1:8-10 frames the whole topic. We all sin, we cannot deny it. Jesus is faithful to forgive sin, always.

So, for those of us in the Paul class, Mark’s notes in his study bible were good. We still should pray for people, no matter what type of sin they have committed. I think John’s point was that there are some who are not going to turn to God, no matter how much we pray.

 

Psalm 7-9

Psalm 7
The opening of the Psalm suggests that the author had someone break a vow with him/her. This was a common practice in Israel (1 Kings 8:31-32) and the writer wants God, the righteous judge, to judge fairly in the situation.

The writer is honest; he/she asks God the guilt belongs upon themselves. I am moved by this openness, particularly because, at least in my experience, we are hesitant to reveal if we have made the mistake. We usually will blame things on others until we are completely exposed… and even then, we try to blame it on other factors (parents, society, God, church), to deflect the full blame on ourselves.

The Psalm takes a striking turn of events. Not only does the writer want God to judge the other party in the vow, but also to judge the nations. (7-9) As God judges, he doesn’t judge simply upon action (righteous and wicked), but he also searches the minds and hearts. (9) This idea echos the calling of David in 1 Sam. 16:7… though we judge outward appearance, God looks at the heart.

Verses 10-16 show a two-pointed destruction of the wicked. On the one hand, God will ultimately bring judgment upon those who do evil; a day of reckoning will occur. On the other hand, those who are wicked will bury themselves. The image of verse 14 is interesting:
       He who is pregnant with evil
      and conceives trouble
              gives birth to disillusionment

Ultimately, the writer is convinced that, if he is truly innocent, that he will be cleared of false charges because God will come to his/her defense, or the law-breaker will bring ruin upon himself/herself.

This Psalm speaks to me about the importance of following the Lord, the need for constant repentance and examination.

Psalm 8
This Psalm is a great Psalm. It reflects on the greatness of God and the place that he has put human beings.

The distinction of this Psalm is that it focuses on God’s goodness within creation, not just in Israel’s history or salvation (like many Psalms). This is a song meant to draw the worshipper to God’s common and elective grace. The common grace of all creation that God gives to all and to the elective grace that God has given to human beings as those ‘lower than heavenly beings’ but crowned with ‘glory and splendor.’

An interesting literary device is used in this Psalm in verses 3-8. At first, our eyes are drawn upward into the sky and all that God has made. Then we are immediately brought low to the image of a person. The writer says, “Why are you pre-occupied with humans when you have made all of this?” God is taken back by people and is concerned about what we do.

This Psalm also helps us to find our appropriate place in the world. Though we may have been given a place of dominion over the creation, we did not get there by our own doing, but because we were ‘crowned’ by God. This is something to consider as we take a look at issues of ecology and environmental responsibility. God does give us freedom to create and to build, but we must show responsibility and restraint.

Psalm 9
Psalm 9 & 10 are connected and make an acrostic Psalm, refrains linked together with the Hebrew alphabet. The “I” in Psalm 9 is an individual among the “helpless” in Psalm 10. Psalm 9 represents the individual among the helpless who is summoning God and reminding God of the faithfulness in the past as Psalm 10 speaks of the current situation and the desire for God to move in the present. Brilliant piece of poetry.

Verses 1-12 are a review and summary of God’s faithfulness. The tone is of worship as the writer reflects on who God has been in the past. Once again, there are thoughts of God’s international rulership and judgment upon the nations alongside personal pleas for help.

I begin to wonder how much I reflect on God’s faithfulness in my past and in the past of others. I imagine that this is a good practice to help in current situations when we feel as if God isn’t there. Perhaps I will try that this week, build a ‘string’ of stories and memories of God’s faithfulness.

Psalm 4-6

Notes on this week’s Psalms

Psalm 4
The writer is being falsely accused by wealthy people (v.7- wealthy farmers). Grain and wine have been seen elsewhere as sacrifices to Ba’al (Hosea 2:8) and perhaps the plea to make right sacrifices (v.5) is the writer’s plea with these accusers to worship God.

I particularly like verse 7, for it is a worship refrain to God. He is the God that fills the writer’s heart with more joy than the others god does, even with the physical proof of harvest and blessing.

Verse 1 has a wordplay at work. The NRSV picks it up, “You gave me room when I was in distress.” This is a picture of salvation; the Heb word Yasha means ‘to broaden, widen’ it is the root word for Yeshua and this spacious place picture is used for the Hebrews coming out of Egypt into the Promised Land.

Verses 2-5 show a typical lament in the poetry genre of the OT. This one is different; instead of being pointed to God it is pointed to the accusers themselves. This call is not stand in ignorance and to get rid of pagan practices (many pagan practices were done in the bed- see Isa. 57:7-8).

Overall, this Psalm talks of allegiance and trust. The light of God’s face shines upon his elect. God will vindicate the writer and the writer is content with God’s promises and protection. (v.7-8)

Psalm 5
Commentators on this Psalm show a connection with it and Psalms 15 and 24. This Psalm might have been the ‘congregation’s’ response to the liturgy of Psalms 15 and 24.

This Psalm also juxtaposes the righteous and the wicked (4-6 and 7-8; 9-10 and 11-12).

I like the words of verse 3, which does not allow presumption to enter the worshipper. God is sovereign and does what he wants. We cannot assume that because we plead and ask, we receive and get. We must wait in expectation and follow his leadership.

Verse 11 appears to be the apex of the Psalm, for worshippers to be glad and to rejoice. It has been said that there were originally 8 deadly sins and that ‘gloom’ was left off the list. A believer should be glad and sense the covering of God as we seek refuge in him.

 

Psalm 6
This psalm is about someone suffering from sickness. It may not just be physical pain, but also agitators who blame the sickness on the subject’s sin. The commentators believed that this could have been a liturgy. This liturgy is powerful; it is honest about the experience of sickness, yet a message of blessing is at the end of the Psalm. (9-10) This hope for salvation is not formed in a vacuum, but is shaped through nights of pain and experiences of agony from agitators.

Commentators note that there is an interesting shift from addressing God in the first person (v.1) to addressing God in the 3rd person (8-10). The subject in the Psalm is obviously addressing his adversaries. This is a hopeful Psalm; it begins with a woeful, burdened subject. However, after meditating on God’s unfailing love, confidence emerges.

BRP Day 27- Ephesians 3

Ephesians 3- Paul’s summary of his mission

Thoughts on the chapter:

The book of Ephesians is a great book and speaks to the great cause of the NT, the grouping of Jews and Gentiles into one family; that God’s dream is to enrich the whole world with the saving power of Jesus Christ, regardless of nationality.

Chapter 3 is Paul’s defense for why he is a minister to the Gentiles. First, he is in prison for the cause. He is in trouble on 2 different fronts. On the one hand, the Jews want to stop Paul because he was claiming that Jesus is raised from the dead. On the other hand, the Romans want him stopped because he is proclaiming a false divinity, that Caesar is not Lord, but Christ is Lord. People don’t last long under that criminal offense, Socrates didn’t, Paul was in trouble also.

Paul’s mission was centered on Grace, both the grace of empowerment (v.7) and God’s favor upon Paul (a second chance at following God) was given to Paul to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus and the coming reign of God. (v.8)

Paul reveals the opponent of the gospel, the principalities and powers. These powers are those cosmic forces and earthly tyrannical figures that stand in the way of the whole world discovering the plan of God. The church is now in the driver’s seat to make the gospel known and to remove the power of these powers that held the world captive before Christ’s atoning work. (v.10-11)

Paul closes his description of his calling with a prayer that is based upon a future hope, a time when heaven and earth will be joined (v.15), an identity that is saturated Christ dwelling within us (a signpost of the new age), a place where love is made complete (v.17), a place where we are in complete unity (v.18), and a place where God is glorified. (v.20-21)

BRP Day 26: Galatians 5

Galatians 5: Freedom in Christ

Thoughts on the chapter:

This is a good chapter from a good book. The main topic is the tension between Jewish and Gentile Christians and the need for one to be circumcised. This was a ‘live’ issue and in real-time with what the early church was struggling through.

One area of consideration is ‘what was the importance of circumcision?” There is a dispute about where to go from here, in relationship to a larger discussion on justification.

Some would say that circumcision is a way to follow God’s law and somehow earn God’s salvation by faithful obedience to the law. Some would call this a “Reformed” position. So, Jesus’ sacrifice would free us from having to obey the law (because we could not follow it completely anyway), and simply trust in the finished work of the cross and God’s grace.

Another perspective, some call the “New Perspective on Paul” (or simply NPP). See circumcision not as a way to earn God’s salvation, but a way that Jews identified themselves as God’s separate people. There are certain things that make one a Jew; circumcision, Sabbath rest, and dietary laws. The great conflict in the early church is, “does a person need to become Jewish to receive God’s favor from Jesus, Israel’s Messiah?”

Paul says no. Now we can put our trust in the work of Jesus, whether Jew or Greek. The Spirit now keeps us, regardless of nationality, and the ‘hope of righteousness’ (Gal. 5:5) will keep our salvation sure. Righteousness, in this sense, is God’s covenant faithfulness- to work out His plan until completion.

BRP Day 19: Acts 27

Acts 27- Shipwreck on the Way to Rome

Thoughts on this Chapter:

I heard some great treatment on this text from a sermon I heard NT Wright preach. We conclude that Luke wrote both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. In Luke, there is a long section called the Travel Narrative of Jesus (Luke 9:51-19:28), where, as readers, we anticipate that Jesus is going to go to Jerusalem and bring His defense against the religious leaders. Luke uses this long journey to share about Jesus’ ministry among the Galileans, training of His disciples, etc…

Luke seems to use this same technique in Acts. We’ve known for a long time that Paul has a similar appointment in Jerusalem and, then to Rome. His journey to get there was not as easy. The shipwreck that Paul suffers is devastating. Luke spends a lot of time in his book on this story. Perhaps Luke is fashioning his story of Paul in similar patterns of the story of Jesus? Is it not a coincidence when Luke mentions Paul being rescued from the shipwreck on ‘planks of wood’? (v.44) Jesus died on wood; but here is Jesus’ servant Paul being rescued by planks of wood.

Anyway, I think Luke’s intention is clear. Those who are found in Christ may also experience similar hardships as Christ did. What we find in Paul is the ability that he has to cope with the hardships of ministry because he is in Christ.