Hebraic
Musing – What does Apostle Paul expect from us?
Paul counsels Timothy,
“his son” (and us as his “sons”) by spelling out some “father/son”
expectations.
Paul wants us to
spread the Word among faithful men. ”And the things you have heard me say in
the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be
qualified to teach others.”
2 Timothy 2:2 NIV We are to pass
on Paul’s teachings “to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach
others.” Apparently, Paul
expects us to be both qualified AND to find men who are qualified to teach and
pass on to them what we have. Do you
have something worth passing on? And do
you know someone who needs it?
Timothy had heard
many Scripture studies from Paul and shared much time with Paul in personal
discipleship. Who have we been sharing
discipleship time with? And who has been
discipling each of us?
God gave ministry
to Timothy, not for him to keep to himself, but for him to pass on to others. He was responsible for pouring into others what
Paul poured into him. He didn’t need to
find smart men, popular men, strong men, easy men, perfect men, or good-looking
men; Paul told him to look for reliable or faithful men.
How do we know who
is a true minister of the gospel? Peter
ordained someone to succeed him, and that one ordained someone to succeed him,
and the next one ordained someone to succeed him, and so forth down the line. This verse reveals the real apostolic
succession – the succession of faithful men, who take the teachings of the
apostles and pass them on for future generations. How did the Good News spread to the whole
known world in the first 300 years?!?!
It was done without public transportation or modern media
conveniences!!!
Paul calls us, or
challenges us, to persevere for God with a soldier’s attitude. “Endure hardship with us like a
good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved
in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.” 2 Timothy
2:3-4 Paul was probably chained to a soldier as he
wrote these letters to Timothy describing how faithfully they obeyed their
commanding officer!
The command to Endure
Hardship carries a sense of requirement or command, something that Timothy had
to do. Is that also expected of us? Is this something we too should be
doing! We are expected to take the
attitude of a soldier who expects to endure hardship. If a believer is
not willing to endure hardship, they will never accomplish much for
Jesus Christ, because they will give up as soon as something hard is required
of them. Are we to take the attitude of
a soldier, who willingly separates himself from the things of civilian
life? Jesus’ words – “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25
Persevere for God with an athlete’s attitude. In the next verse, Paul gives the reader, us,
a clear example - “Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not
receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.” 2 Timothy 2:5
Paul liked to draw examples from the athletic world of track, boxing and
wrestling. He makes the point clear, the
athlete must compete according to the rules if he wants to receive the
crown, the reward. In how many ways do
Christians make the mistake of thinking they can make up our own rules, justifying
it as trying to get along in this world?!?!
Points to ponder
Do we always recognize Jesus Christ as our Commander in
Chief?
Does God want us to follow the rules? Or can we bend them if they’re not
“convenient”?
What is required to deny ourselves and take up HIS cross?
Who have we
been sharing discipleship time with?
What did we mean when we made Jesus our LORD?
Did
you get drafted, or did you enlist/volunteer in God’s army?
♫ I may never march in the infantry,
Ride in the cavalry, Shoot the artillery …But I'm in the Lord's army!
♫
Yosef a.k.a. Joe
Brusherd
February
11, 2025
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our
faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)” Weekly “Hebraic
Musings”
Note – Inspired by
David Guzik’s commentary; available on request.
David Guzik’s notes
2. (2) Spread the word among
faithful men.
And the things that you have
heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be
able to teach others also.
a. The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses:
Paul reminded Timothy of the body of truth that he had heard from the Apostle
in the presence of many others. Certainly, Timothy heard many Bible studies
from Paul, and shared much time with the Apostle in personal discipleship.
i. It may be that Paul
reminded Timothy of a special message he presented at Timothy’s ordination
service among many witnesses. “But he seems to refer here to
the doctrines delivered to him when, in the presence of many witnesses,
he laid his hands upon him; see 1 Timothy 6:12. Then the
apostle gave him the proper form of sound words which he was to teach; and now
he tells him to commit those truths to faithful men in the same way that they
were committed to him” (Clarke).
b. Commit these to faithful men: God gave ministry to
Timothy, not for him to keep to himself, but for him to pass on to others. An
essential part of his work as a pastor was to pour into others what God had
committed to him.
i. One may say that
everything that a pastor does in his ministry he should train others to do.
There are no duties of a pastor so holy or so secret that he should keep them
all to himself. He should always seek to spread ministry about to others, and
to train others to do the work of the ministry.
ii. Timothy was not to
teach others his own particular ideas or theories, but simple apostolic
doctrine and example (the things that you have heard from me).
What Paul poured into him he was responsible to pour into others.
iii. The job of training
leaders is simply part of a pastor’s job description. He should not only train
leaders when the need for a leader is obvious; nor should he only train leaders
for the needs of his congregation alone. He should train leaders for the
Kingdom of God in general, whether they are used in ministry at the particular
pastor’s congregation or not.
c. To faithful men: When Timothy looked for those whom he
could pour apostolic doctrine and practice into, he was to look for the quality
of faithfulness. He didn’t need to find smart men, popular
men, strong men, easy men, perfect men, or good-looking men; Paul told him to
look for faithful men.
i. Through the history of
Christianity, some have held to the idea of apostolic succession.
This is the idea that you can know who a true minister of the gospel is because
Peter ordained someone to succeed him, and that one ordained someone to succeed
him, and the next one ordained someone to succeed him, so forth and so on down
the line. However, this verse reveals the real apostolic succession – the
succession of faithful men, who take the
teachings of the apostles and pass them on.
ii. Without faithfulness
to the teaching and example of the apostles, the idea of apostolic succession
is nothing more than the laying of empty hands upon empty heads. “Where is
the uninterrupted apostolic succession? Who can tell?
Probably it does not exist on the face of the world. All the pretensions to it
by certain Churches are as stupid as they are idle and futile” (Clarke).
d. Who will be able to teach others also: This job of
training leaders was so important that it could not be restricted to Timothy
alone. Those whom he had trained must also be given the job to teach others also.
i. Will be able “Expresses capability as proved by
experience” (White).
3. (3-4) Persevere for God with a
soldier’s attitude.
You therefore must endure
hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles
himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him
who enlisted him as a soldier.
a. You therefore must: This was not a suggestion from Paul
to Timothy; must carries the sense of a
requirement or a command. There was something that Timothy had to do, and Paul
would tell him to do it.
b. Endure hardship as a good soldier: Timothy must take the attitude of soldier who expects to endure hardship for
their cause. No real soldier – or at least no good soldier – ever gave up
simply because some hardship came to them.
i. In the same way, if a believer
is not willing to endure hardship, they will never accomplish much for Jesus
Christ. They will give up as soon as something hard is required of them; they
cannot fulfill Jesus’ call: If anyone desires to come after
Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. (Matthew 16:24)
ii. “Never dream of
delicacy; think not to find God in the gardens of Egypt, whom Moses found not
but in the burning-bush.” (Trapp)
iii. “Paul does not exhort
Timothy to be a common, or ordinary soldier, but to be a ‘good soldier of Jesus
Christ;’ for all soldiers, and all true soldiers, may not be good soldiers.
There are men who are but just soldiers and nothing more; they only need
sufficient temptation and they readily become cowardly, idle, useless and
worthless; but he is the good soldier who is bravest of the brave, courageous
at all times, who is zealous, does his duty with heart and earnestness.”
(Spurgeon)
c. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of
this life: Timothy must take the attitude of a soldier, who
willingly separates himself from the things of civilian life.
i. A soldier has to give
up many things. Some of them are bad things (pride, independence, self-will),
and some of them are good things (his home, his family). Nevertheless, if a
soldier is not willing to give up these things, he is not a soldier at all.
ii. The things that
might entangle a soldier might be good or bad for a
civilian. The soldier can’t ask if something is good or bad for those who are
not soldiers; he must give up anything that gets in the way of being a good
soldier or serving his commanding officer. A faithful soldier does not have the
right to do anything that will entangle them and make them less effective as a
soldier.
iii. “It is well remarked
by Grotius, on this passage, that the legionary soldiers
among the Romans were not permitted to engage in husbandry, merchandise,
mechanical employments, or any thing that might be inconsistent with their
calling.” (Clarke)
d. That he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier:
If Timothy did not endure hardship and if he did not put away the things that
entangled him in the affairs of this life, he would not be pleasing to his
Commanding Officer.
i. Jesus Christ is the
commander of all heaven’s armies. In Joshua 5, Jesus appeared
to Joshua as Commander of the army of the LORD (Joshua 5:14). He is our Commanding Officer, and we owe
total obedience to Him as such.
ii. It is likely that Paul
was chained to a soldier even as he wrote this. He saw how these soldiers
acted, and how they obeyed their commanding officers. Paul knew that this is
how a Christian must act towards their Lord.
4. (5) Persevere for God with an
athlete’s attitude.
And also if anyone competes in
athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
a. If anyone competes in athletics: Paul often drew upon
the world of athletics for illustrations of the Christian life, mentioning
track and field (1 Corinthians 9:24), boxing (1 Corinthians 9:26), and
wrestling (Ephesians 6:12).
b. He is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules:
The point is clear. An athlete can’t make up the rules as he pleases; he must
compete according to the rules if he wants to receive the
crown.
i. It is possible to fall
into the mistake of thinking that we can make up our own rules for our
Christian life. For some people, their special arrangement goes something like
this: “I know this is sin, but God understands, so I’ll
just keep going in this sin.” This goes against the attitude of an athlete who
must compete according to the rules.
