"After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth."~Genesis 8:6-11

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

1 Timothy


This letter was written from Paul to Timothy during his fourth missionary journey, between 62 and 66AD.  Paul had previously left Timothy in Ephesus (1:3), and although they have been doing ministry together for at least 10 years (beginning in Acts 16:1), Timothy is struggling in his ministry at Ephesus.  The church is overridden with false teachings- primarily of the sort that women are overpowering men and claiming authorship over them, and dominating the church, as was a popular trend in Ephesian religions at that time.

Ephesus was more or less the gateway between Asia and Macedonia and Greece at this time, and was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire.  Because of its location, it received overwhelming amounts of influence from both Greek and Asian culture, and was stuffed full of mystery religions.  The worship of Artemis, the goddess of fertility and the Ephesians, was one of many elements that led to the view of women having religious superiority and therefore dominance.

Paul is writing to Timothy to encourage him to remove the false teachings from the church, live a godly life as an example, and to remind him of his calling and what is good.  In the letter he switches back and forth between commands specific for Timothy, and more general commands for the church at large.

"Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled."- 1 Timothy 6:1


OBSERVATION
What is being connected?
Name of God and teaching not being reviled. 
What does the connective refer back to?
Servants regarding their masters as worthy of all honor.

INTERPRETATION
What does this imply about how outsiders view a believer’s faith?
It is judged by how they act.  If, in this case, a servant treats his master honorably and respectably, the master will see that and not revile the name of God, but the reverse is also true.

TIMELESS TRUTH
The way we act as Christians determine how outsiders view God.
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