Posted on 02/07/2014 6:23:47 AM PST by CynicalBear
The Apostle Paul’s directive to his son in the faith, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2:15 carries tremendous importance and impact for any who would embark on a serious study of the Holy Bible. He exhorts Timothy:
“Study to show yourself approved of God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of God.”
Let’s let that sink in, firmly.
Approval of God is at stake here, he indicates, and personal shame is a consequence if one does not rightly divide the word of God. The directive to “rightly divide the word” tells us that there are divisions, or partitions, in the Word of God, indicating and supporting the concept of dispensations, or periods of time in which God’s overall plan as it relates to mankind differs in manner and content. (That is my layman’s understanding of that Scripture.)
How does one not rightly divide the Word? By picking and choosing to place various prophetic events, past and future, in different periods of history, contrary to the evidence of historical reality. Here is an example. I once picked up on a television program in which the speaker, allegedly a Jewish Christian, was speaking on the clear evidence that the apostasy of the church is currently underway, as Paul described it in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, that was the speaker’s stopping point.
I don’t recall him making reference to the revealing of the man of sin that is mentioned as a result of the falling away of believers. So, I sent an email asking why he did not continue the context that ultimately leads to the “removal of the restrainer” who is holding back that gradual encroachment of evil over all people of the world. He replied that he did not believe that was in the same time frame as the falling away, but that it actually happened back in the thirteenth Century—an interplay between Rome and the Catholic Church. Yet, in the context, the revealing of the man of sin is the result, which is followed by his taking over the temple and proclaiming himself God.
That did not happen before the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. and has not happened to this day, for there is no temple, yet, for him to take over. This is still future. Bottom line is that God is not a God of confusion, and rightly dividing the Word of God makes sense of it. A straight forward understanding of the context is that a falling away of faith toward God (you can see it happening now) leads to the removal of the body of Christ—the true church— in whom the Holy Spirit lives and restrains against the evil encroachment of the devil. Then he is revealed to those left behind, upon whom he, the devil, has total and unrestrained access. Given what we see already, it will not be pretty!
One can readily see, I think, the broader “partitions” in the plan of God, which is essentially, the Word of God to Man. We see the broad periods before the law, under the law, and now, under grace. And, future, the millennium under the rule of Christ—a theocracy—and finally, the eternity promised. One segment leads to a higher revelation of God’s identity—character, attributes, person, etc., and His plan for bringing mankind into a proper relationship to Him, long-term.
For example, the dispensation of the law with its unwavering requirements shows us the unwavering holiness of God and our lack of ability to meet that requirement without His provision of mercy and grace. His perfection in holiness and our total degradation in sin and rebellion, then, is the summation.
That period is marked by the rigid requirements of regular blood and other sacrifices that now are called foreshadows of the coming of that perfect sacrifice, Jesus, the Lamb of God. See Hebrews 10 for this. Another important point for that era is the fact that the Holy Spirit did not indwell believers. John 14:17 tells us, in Jesus’ words, “…now He is with you, but then He will be in you.” Yes, even under the law, “the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4), and before he was renamed to be the founder of the Hebrew nation, Abram “believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).
How the Law Points Us to Grace
John 1:17 tells us, “For the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
It’s another evidence of a division in the Word of God’s dealing with mankind. By foreshadowing that which was to come, while establishing that foundation of grace and faith in the Christ who was to come, the law provided a very necessary factor in sinful man’s relationship with God.
Romans 3:20 tells us that by the law sin is made known, and Romans 6:14 tells us this: “…sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.”
Thus is shown the purpose of the law and its continuing ministry to the world, even today, and God’s solution for believers in this dispensation of grace. In this article I want to bring together some truths of Scripture that “rightly dividing the Word of God” and will clear up some misunderstandings that may have been missed due to our tendency to follow what someone else has told us, instead of following the rule of those of Berea, as in Acts 17:11:
“These (of Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”
In Hebrews 10:1-2 we see another indication of a division in the Word. It says this:
“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect, for then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.”
A shadow is an announcement of a reality that is coming, as in this case the law is the shadow and Christ is the reality. The sacrifices called for by the laws of Moses were not the real solution to the sin problem, but the coming “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” as John the Baptist called Him (John 1:29), was to fulfill that call for reality made by its shadow.
Now, let’s look at a specific doctrine that brought this matter of rightly dividing the word and its connection to dispensational truths into sharp focus for me. We are told that we are to worship God on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, because that is one of the Ten Commandments God gave Moses on the holy mountain. So bold is that doctrine among its followers some would hold that our failure to keep it may well cost us our eternal redemption.
Jesus told the devil at the temptation incident, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). So, if the law is a
shadow of the reality that is to come (Hebrews 10:1-2), are there select laws that are not a shadow of the reality to come?
Hebrews 10 goes on to describe the inadequacy of the sacrifice of bulls and goats to cleanse one of sin permanently. Thus, it must be repeated over and over. But the blood of Christ, the coming reality, was to be the true sacrifice that could and would do it, because it was [is] eternal, thus constant in time. And you say, “this had to do with temple sacrifices.”
What about the Ten Commandments, in which no mention of sacrifices is made?
What did the commandment to observe the Sabbath actually foreshadow? And, did Christ fulfill it? After the creation was completed, God rested on the seventh day, and He wants us to share His rest with Him. Is that too simple or not spiritual enough? The problem is that “resting in the Lord” is a faith issue, not a day of the week issue. Hebrews 4:10 sums it up quite neatly:
“For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his [own] works as God did from His”. In the context it tells of Israel’s failure to enter into that rest because of unbelief.”
So, if the fourth commandment is yet to be followed in its seventh day observance under threat of eternal damnation, of what future reality is it shadowing? Paul writes to the Colossians:
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance [reality] is of Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).
Does more need to be said? Yes, just this: “And he said unto them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).
In Part Two, of this topic we will look at the shadowy implications of this concept in another area of biblical interpretation that hovers over us in these last days.
Ping if interested.
:: The directive to “rightly divide the word” tells us that there are divisions, or partitions, in the Word of God ::
The implication of “rightly divide” is equal and co-existing HALVES; any additions are smorsgasbord belief.
The Word of God (AKA, Logos...AKA:Christ) is “rightly” and “ritely” divided into (i) Law and (ii) Gospel.
All else rolls downhill from there. The so-called “dispensations” are distractions driven by the Law.
So Paul had it wrong?
Ephesians 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation [oikonomia] of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
oikonomia - Definition: management of household affairs, stewardship, administration. [http://biblehub.com/greek/3622.htm]
Dispensation is simply a term given to the different periods of how God has managed or administered the affairs of this world and how He deals with it’s inhabitants.
Yes, but “law” is more properly translated “instrution”. As in, he who loves Me, keeps my commandments.
He being the same person from the beginning of the Word to the End. He became/was/is/shall be the living Word, Torah, Instruction; here is how doing the Word/Torah looks; He showed us.
For those rightly understanding/dividing the Word: 2 Peter Chapter 3, all of it.
And as for His chosen in the last day, Rev 12:17:
“So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
Additionally, no _one_ person on the earth, during His life, called our King by the name Jesus.
I would suggest the emphasis isn't on "approved of God" but rather the we do "not need to be ashamed". Please consider the following:
Of course not. Our modern understanding of “dispensation” is corrupted.
Our? Define “our”. Who is it that has a corrupted understanding of “dispensation”.
I didn’t realize any of them spoke English for that to even be a consideration.
There is _no_ linguistical path from Yeshua to Jesus. It is a tradition of man, just like the traditions of the Pharisees which Yeshua was constantly correcting back onto Torah. The _church_ should be aware that He does not honor traditions which contradict His Word which _is_ Him. You cannot knowingly love Him and honor such traditions.
Yes, YHWH is pleased that man should come to know Him, at all. Our Father and fathers’ knowing, is intimate doing/being w/Him. I’m sure He is thrilled when we know Him well enough to call Him by one of His actual names. He has many titles...
here we go again.........
*sigh*
here we go again.........
*sigh*
“We’re going to be better than you because we think we say the CORRECT name of God and Jesus and you don’t.”
Not having it occur to them that even the English transliterations of the names of God and Jesus are not His actual names.
Unless one is a Hebrew from the OT days, there is simply no way to verify the pronunciation.
And what do the Deaf do? They can’t even say it. They have to sign it.
I’d like to see the first person come along and tell THEM they’re not doing it *right* because their sign isn’t His real name.
http://lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/j/jesus.htm
http://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/JESUS/1617/1
I prefer to take the meaning of a scripture verse from the context of scripture where the vs appears, 99% of the time the immediate context will define the meaning of any verse.
Now in your lesson you are all over scripture from this verse to another, from book to book and so on, none of which are in the context in which 2Tim 2:15 is written, and causes confusion for the reader, they may seem to fit together on the surface, but they don’t.
So lets look at the context and see if we can’t determine the meaning of “dividing” the meaning of dividing is “distributing” in the context, lets see how so.
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
There were many at that time and even more still today who were spouting profane and vain babblings, you hear it from pulpits all the time, people who were not rightly distributing the word of truth...so in the next vs Paul gives one example of such people wrongly dividing the word of truth...
2 Timothy 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
In the next vs we see the consequences of not rightly dividing (distributing).
2 Timothy 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
These guys were perverting and undermining the “word of truth” and overthrowing peoples faith.
The following verses thru to 2Tim 2:21 further reinforce the effectiveness of and the mandate for us rightly dividing (distributing)the word of truth, actually the whole chapter will reinforce our understanding.
Of course all this is assuming one knows what “the word of truth” is...(hint, it is not the scripture in this context), if you need help with this let me know and I’ll explain from scripture what “the word of truth” is).
Also it is required that one know what the dispensations are and how many dispensations THE SCRIPTURE say there are, not how many some so called scholar says there are. Do You Know?
I sincerely hope you do not take this as an attack, I take this all seriously, I love to converse on scripture but I do not debate scripture, God says what he means and means what he says in scripture, when you stay with the context in which he says it.
Other than what is used in the Greek text as we have it today?
Luke 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS (Iésous), which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ (Christos) Jesus (Iésous):
And then says this of THAT name.
Phillippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus (Iésous) every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus (Iésous) Christ (Christos) is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In the GREEK the Holy Spirit through Paul says that the name Iésous Jesus is the NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES.
Again to the Corinthians written in Greek.
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus (Iésous) Christ (Christos), that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
You may want to keep in mind in your comments that I am not the author of the article.
>>if you need help with this let me know and I’ll explain from scripture what “the word of truth” is<<
I’m sure you would given that you didn't even realize I wasn’t the author of the article. Ooooops.
Yes, He is patient, far more patient than those who continue to do things their way, even after they become aware the Kingdom has/is more; from glory to glory, not stuck in traditions. And proud of them too...
I am interested in your questions, Polo. How many dispensations do you believe there are? And what is the “word of truth” in your opinion?
Reading the Bible in our own native language is not evil, remember God is the reason we have all these different languages (the tower of Babel event).
The Bible most quoted by the writers of the New Testament was the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The New Testament was written in Greek, including the gospel of Matthew. Who are the Hebrew language supremacists going to blame for this?
The Greek language, both the Septuagint and the New Testament written in Greek, being a more easily exegeted language than Hebrew, God must have chosen it for the propagation of the gospel.
It is what the name, Jesus, means that is crucial, not how you pronounce it. It means God with us (Immanuel, Matt. 1:23), becoming our savior, Matt. 1:21.
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