Bible Study 20

Duties towards Believers

1 Timothy 5

5Do not speak harshly to an older man,* but speak to him as to a father, to younger men as brothers, 2to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters—with absolute purity.
3 Honour widows who are really widows. 4If a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn their religious duty to their own family and make some repayment to their parents; for this is pleasing in God’s sight. 5The real widow, left alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day; 6but the widow* who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. 7Give these commands as well, so that they may be above reproach. 8And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
9 Let a widow be put on the list if she is not less than sixty years old and has been married only once;* 10she must be well attested for her good works, as one who has brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to doing good in every way. 11But refuse to put younger widows on the list; for when their sensual desires alienate them from Christ, they want to marry, 12and so they incur condemnation for having violated their first pledge. 13Besides that, they learn to be idle, gadding about from house to house; and they are not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say. 14So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the adversary no occasion to revile us. 15For some have already turned away to follow Satan. 16If any believing woman* has relatives who are really widows, let her assist them; let the church not be burdened, so that it can assist those who are real widows.

Title: Widows in the Church

This text speaks about respect to older experienced people in the church. This is part of the Fourth Commandment in the Ten Commandments: namely “Honor your father and your mother.” All authorities including we should respect older people, local authorities and government is included in this commandment.
Paul makes distinction between real widows and widows that live for pleasure. Real widows enjoy the end of their life with prayer and supplication for their children and church. The church used to record and financially support women who lost husbands. Now Paul makes distinction between real and not so real widows. Those who live for pleasure Paul writes, “…they learn to be idle, gadding about from house to house; and they are not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not say.” Younger widows and women of the age of marriage without family do not have place where to spend their time. Therefore they roam from house to house and gossip. Therefore Paul advises younger widows not to enter church record as widows but get married and bring up children to keep themselves busy. He prescribes that women should be recorded on church documents as widows only after they are sixty years old.
The other advice is for children of these widows. Paul advises that children and grand children need to support their own mother and grand- mother when she loses her husband. Those widows who have children and grand children should not be recorded on church documents to require the church to help them.

May the Lord Bless all
Rev. Teka Obsa Fogi
Pastor: Oromo Christian Fellowship

Bible Study 19

Text: 1Timo. 4:11-16

11 These are the things you must insist on and teach. 12Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching. 14Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.15Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. 16Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.
The basic doctrine Paul wanted to teach is found in 1 Tim. 3:16-19
Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great:

“He* was revealed in flesh,
vindicated* in spirit,*
seen by angels,
proclaimed among Gentiles,
believed in throughout the world,
taken up in glory.”

It was about Jesus the Christ the Son of God. Paul once more reminds Timothy that he should insist on the doctrine of the divinity and humanity of Jesus: that the divine took human flesh for the sinners. Timothy was young. For someone that is young it is difficult to teach these teachings that are new to the Greek world. It is even more difficult to teach to some people who are older, more experienced and better learned. Timothy seems to be in this situation. Scholars believe that Timothy was shy. He was not one of the outspoken people we know in the Bible, like Apolos and Titus.

The text quoted from 1 Tim. 3:16-19 is about Christ. It explains who Christ is. This is the subject on which we should insist on and teach. If someone knows Christ, that is all he/she needs. Paul writes in Philippians 3:10-11
“I want to know Christ, and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, …”
It is not that Paul does not know Christ. But it is that there is a lot more to know about Christ. There is a lot more to know Christ. Therefore we teachers of the gospel should insist on making Christ known as much as he revealed himself to us. This is a time when people do not appreciate teaching. People do not have patience to listen to teachings.

Paul also writes that teachers should “set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Timothy was exhorted to be example in speech and conduct. Paul had another exhortation for Timothy,
“Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy
with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.”
I have heard no one teaching on what this gift that Timothy has received through the laying by the council of elders. All evidences indicate that this gift is the gift of teaching. Paul exhorts Timothy to teach without being intimidated. He urges Timothy not to neglect the gift of teaching. The gift of teaching takes a lot of time and energy. A teacher cannot suddenly stand on the podium and start teaching. A teacher has to study, research and pray. The teacher gets insight from heaven by the enlightenment from the Holy Spirit. Since it takes a lot of work teachers may be tempted to abandon research and study. Teachers that abandoned study would become ineffective ‘teachers’. Teaching is such a fundamental gift that at that time it was given to Timothy through laying of hands of elders. This kind of ordination gives power to the teacher. It gives him authority in front of those who listen to him. On the other hand it puts obligation to prepare when he delivers his message.
“Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

Here the exhortation is to pay a close attention. Pay close attention to yourself. What does that mean? It means “synchronize your life with what you teach.” This interpretation agrees with 1 Timo. 4:11 where it says, “set the believers an example in speech and conduct.” Speaking is not enough. One has to show his/her teaching by living it. Pay attention to your teaching, exhorts Paul. This is to say that the teaching should be according to the rest of the scripture. It should be according to the apostolic testimony. It should be according to the Psalms and the prophets. One cannot just get up and teach a strange teaching. He/she cannot teach an interpretation far from what the church fathers have taught.

The gift of teaching saves both the teacher and the hearer. Teaching is a tool for shepherds and pastors. It is by teaching that we can bring people back to true faith. It is by teaching that we expose the lie of false prophets and teacher. It is by preventive teaching that we can save people from falling into traps of false teachers that specialize in material gain as the main product of the faith in Christ. By making people focus on health and wealth these false teachers rob the chance of true relationship to Christ the Son of God. The job of a true teacher is preaching the cross of Jesus Christ and bringing people to the study of the Word of God.

May the Lord Bless all

Rev. Teka Obsa Fogi
Pastor: Oromo Christian Fellowship

Bible Study 18

Title: Life conscious of the work of Jesus Christ!
Text: 1Timo. 4:6-16
6 If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, 8for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
11 These are the things you must insist on and teach. 12Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhorting, to teaching. 14Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.15Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. 16Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Interpretation
The main objective of Paul is that all in Ephesus know that the mystery of our faith is Jesus Christ our Lord, that “he was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, and taken up in glory.” 1Tim.2:15. Anybody who finds any spirituality more profound than the incarnation, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is on the wrong side of the truth. It is astounding that God (the Word) became flesh, it is astounding that the sinless, the innocent became sin (2Cor.5:21) for the sake of humanity that is disobedient to God. It was for humanity who is enemy of God by dishonoring God and profaning God’s name and glory that the blameless had to die for. Whoever finds anything worthy of teaching, or spends time on teaching instead of teaching this fundamental truth is wasting his/her time and misleading the listeners.
Therefore Paul encourages Timothy to reinforce the teaching about the main doctrine of the church: the incarnation, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A good servant will teach the basic teachings about Jesus. Idle people who cannot ground themselves in Bible study get interested in talks of spirituality that is rooted in human experience. Paul calls these “profane myths and old wives’ tales.” Paul teaches that Timothy should train himself in godliness. Godliness is not confiding in doing that and not doing the other in order to please God. Godliness is living life conscious of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Godliness is focusing on what Jesus did for us through taking the human flesh, suffering in human flesh, taking the sum of sin of all generations and die for us. Godliness is living a life that is guided by self control in consciousness of what Jesus did on the cross of Calvary.
Godly life takes some training. It takes some decisions to express one’s life as a Christian Person. We do not live godly life in order to be saved. No, we live a godly life because we are saved. Our new nature requires new kind of living. Therefore we have to harness our flesh whose sinful desires spring from our fallen nature. Paul gives the fact that the Greek athletes practice to earn their crown and we have to train ourselves for the Christian way of life. We should lose certain ways of talking, we should trash certain words and expression never to say them again, we should prevent our mind from thinking in certain ways. All this is not to earn anything, but it is to fit to our new nature mindful of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. This is the discipline of eternal life for which we toil. We toil not to be saved, but to live as saved people. We keep the character of a person with new nature imparted on him/her because of faith in Jesus Christ.

We will continue with verse 11ff next week.
May the Lord Bless all
Rev. Teka Obsa Fogi
Pastor: Oromo Christian Fellowship