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The Importance of Isaiah’s Servant Songs

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J. Nicholas Reid presents a compelling devotional of Isaiah’s Servant Songs, where he first zooms in to observe each of the four songs before zooming out to consider their impact on the New Testament.

Some of the most memorable questions in the New Testament are answered in relation to the Servant Songs. Whether it is the eunuch asking Phillip if the fourth song is about Isaiah or someone else (Acts 8), or John the Baptist sending his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Luke 7:20), the significance of these songs cannot be overstated. “Phillip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35).

Here is much worth considering. Check it out!

When “Literal” Interpretation is Not as Straightforward as it Seems

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Michael Heiser makes a helpful point in his article on “How to (Mis)Interpret Prophecy”:

“There’s no shortage of advice on how to interpret the Bible. One maxim … advises, “When the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense.” I’ve heard it quoted when it comes to biblical prophecy—encouraging people to interpret literally, at face value. Although that sounds like good advice, some New Testament writers didn’t get the memo.

Heiser then analyzes James’s use of Amos 9 in the Jerusalem council, recorded in Acts 15, where James (and Luke, the narrator) appears to take a non-literal approach to the fulfillment of Amos’s prophecy.

There are textual and translation issues involved as well, which Heiser briefly sorts out. But Heiser does well with this example to show us that “Interpreting biblical prophecy cannot be distilled to a simple maxim, and everything cannot be taken literally. The New Testament shows us otherwise.”

Check it out!

Advice for Awkward Moments in Bible Studies

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Megan Hill interviews three women’s Bible study leaders for practical counsel on how to handle awkward moments in group meetings. They address situations such as excessive talking, direct challenge to the leader, off-topic questions, and theological hobby horses.

These seasoned leaders have some great thoughts on how to serve all the members of the group in such challenging situations. Check it out!

HT: Andy Cimbala

Do You Handle the Word Rightly When You Teach Children?

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“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

We think of pastors needing to handle the word of truth rightly. We think of seminary professors and Sunday school teachers needing to handle the word of truth rightly. But do we think of parents, or anyone else who teaches children, as needing to handle the word of truth rightly?

Alison Mitchell thinks so. In a fabulous article at GoThereFor.com, she argues that 2 Tim 2:15 applies to all Bible teachers, including those who would teach children. Including those who teach children Bible stories. Including those who read storybook Bibles to children.

To help you obey this command, Mitchell offers 6 suggestions:

  1. Always start with the text.
  2. Be cautious about addition.
  3. Be thoughtful about subtraction.
  4. Build your application from the main teaching point.
  5. Choose supportive visuals and activities.
  6. Be careful with published material.

Her counsel pierces, soothes, and motivates God-honoring excellence. All throughout, she encourages us to make sure our teaching materials focus on the main point of our biblical text, and not merely on a creative re-telling of the plot. The main points are the main points, and must be communicated as such. Here is a taste of Mitchell’s counsel:

“When considering an addition to the story, ask yourself whether it supports or detracts from the main point, and whether it is really necessary. Children won’t know what has been added and what hasn’t; they simply accept the story as they hear it. If they find out later that only some of what they heard came from Scripture, they may also end up questioning the rest of what they were taught. This means I tend to add very little.”

And another:

“So check re-told Bible stories carefully. The authors of children’s story books are usually gifted, creative storytellers. There’s a lot we can learn from their gifts. But, in my experience, creative storytellers often add to Bible accounts. So check carefully, comparing their version with the Bible text. If there are only a few small changes or additions, you may be able to adapt the story and use it successfully. But if you find that too much has changed, you’ll need to tell the story yourself or find a more accurate story book.”

The “checking” she suggests extends even to the illustrations. For example, if an illustration of Daniel in the lions’ den portrays Daniel as a young man, it is not being faithful to the text.

There is much food for thought here, which is well worth your time.

Check it out!

Why Study Ezra

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Have you ever read Ezra? Have you bothered to study it? If not, Jesse Johnson thinks you should.

After explaining one of the Bible’s most incredible prophecies (Isaiah 44:24-45:1), Johnson says this about Ezra:

The proclamation is that Israel would return, and is what is fulfilled in the book of Ezra.

Ezra is worth studying because it is a full-color illustration of Yahweh’s sovereignty. Nearly every chapter speaks of the meticulous application of that sovereignty for the purpose of rebuilding Israel. Nehemiah will focus on rebuilding Jerusalem’s physical architecture, but before God gets to that, Ezra first describes the rebuilding of Israel’s spiritual architecture, namely the temple and the priests.

The most remarkable thing about the book of Ezra is that despite their zeal in the return, and despite the miraculous nature of God’s prophetic word, the return doesn’t go well. In fact, it ends in failure.

He concludes:

Study the book of Ezra. As you do, the more you are in awe of God’s meticulous sovereignty, let that impress upon you that for those apart from Christ, they don’t need a miracle. They don’t need a new start. They need a new heart, which only comes through New Covenant.

This analysis is great. Check it out!

Why the Church Needs Malachi

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Mark Fugitt has a very helpful post on the book of Malachi. He encourages us to see more in this book than a memory verse to inspire capital campaigns (Mal 3:10).

Like all self-serving humans, Christians are apt to use particular Scriptures to further their own causes, and Malachi has become sadly typecast as a result. However, the book is so much more than this one liner. God wasn’t needing money and calling His prophet Malachi to start a capital campaign when He revealed what became the final book before the long, dark night of the souls waiting on redemption. 

Malachi is a book about corruption and justice. It begins with the people’s hopeless state of sin and the consequences of it. By the time we get to the famous verse about bringing all the tithes into the storehouse of God, we realize that giving was only one of the things they had forgotten. Godly institutions like marriage and sacrifice had become shams of their former redemption.

Fugitt briefly explains the book’s context, flow of thought, and main point in a way that promotes vibrant application to our generation. I commend this article to you.

Check it out!

The Differences Between Law and Wisdom

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The relationship between law and wisdom is a tricky topic that requires careful thought. Too many fall into oversimplification, as though law has to do with right or wrong, and wisdom has to do with the gray areas of life. Or as though law communicates universals and wisdom (especially Proverbs) offers only probabilities.

So robust thinking, that makes sense in plain language, is hard to find.

Here is an excellent post at Beautiful Christian Life that offers you just that—robust thinking in plain language.

Though I don’t have any strenuous disagreements, I would prefer to give less weight to theological frameworks in shaping the presentation of what the law is. But the author’s presentation of wisdom is terrific.

Check it out!

Help Your Teens Study the Bible

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Do you have teenagers in your home? Or will you soon have teens in your home? I’m less than 2 months away from the milestone, so I was delighted to see this great advice from Katherine Forster (herself a teenager) in her article “5 Tips for Helping Your Teens Study the Bible.”

  1. Lead by example
  2. Include them in your study
  3. Make it part of the family routine
  4. Provide materials
  5. Remember the Lord does the work

Her first tip is particularly convicting, but all five are timely reminders. See the article for further explanation.

Check it out!

Let’s Think Straight About Commentaries

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Christine Gordon and Hope Blanton have written a thoughtful piece on the role of commentaries in Bible study: “Yes, Bring Commentaries to Bible Study.” I appreciate their willingness to push back on an idea we’ve trumpeted on this blog (though I doubt they have our blog specifically in mind):

Others have been warned that commentaries present a direct danger to their personal Bible study. Naysayers caution Christians that reading the words of others may prevent them from thinking their own thoughts and coming to their own conclusions about Scripture. The vital steps of observing the text and interpreting it for ourselves, they worry, may be missed if we allow others to do it for us.

The objection is initially well-stated: Commentaries indeed pose a direct danger to personal Bible study. I would only clarify that the danger is not that we’d allow commentaries to do the vital steps of observing and interpreting for us. The real danger is that the vital steps of observing and interpreting the text would go undone altogether—yet we wouldn’t notice on account of the secure embrace we feel from the opinions of the experts.

This is why we are more than eager to recommend good commentaries that promote observation, interpretation, and application of the text. We must remember that a commentary is like gasoline. It will get you where you want to go, if you possess a working engine. But if you’re prone to drinking it straight, you ought to label it as poison.

And this gets at the overwhelming agreement I have with Gordon and Blanton. Because they arrive at the same place I do, even if they’re more sensitive to different dangers along the way than I am:

Instead of preventing beneficial study, good commentaries can protect us from heretical interpretations, correct our personal biases, and help us come to the conclusions God intended when he wrote his Word. When used judiciously, these resources give rich, deep material for the Bible student, leading to informed observation, accurate interpretation, and appropriate personal application.

Commentaries also give us windows into the historical context of the people to whom the books were written…

Yes, we must still do the work of observing and interpreting the text. But with commentaries we can do so in an informed way, with a clearer understanding of the way the first hearers would’ve understood the passage…

Just as you would carefully select a Bible teacher or pastor for orthodoxy and trustworthiness, so you must be deliberate in your use of commentaries…

Read the Bible passage multiple times. Linger there before you open the commentary. Get a good idea of the story, teaching, or principles. Try to form a few questions—things you don’t understand or ideas you’d like to investigate. Then bring these questions to your commentary. Commentary writers—your brothers and sisters who have labored to understand the Word in a detailed and careful way—will help to clarify the text and encourage you as you read.

I couldn’t agree more if such regulations were shouted at me from atop Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. If more people used commentaries this way, I would lay my cloak at their feet to ease their journey. If it were the case that people used commentaries as conversation partners with regard to the text, instead of as teachers independent of the text, the world would be a happier place.

Gordon and Blanton model such wise use of commentaries for us. They give examples of how commentaries can help us to to find answers to our interpretive questions that are assumed in the text. I might argue that some of their other benefits of commentaries could simply be acquired by studying the text in context—though, once again, good commentaries will be helpful conversation partners, pointing out arguments or trains of thought we may have missed. There remains much to commend in this article.

Check it out!

Don’t Judge Matthew 7:1

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The latest issue of Tabletalk magazine has a helpful article by Tim Witmer on Matthew 7:1. Witmer tackles the popular usage of the phrase “Don’t judge” and shows it to be a misuse of the verse’s context. Of course this verse is not saying that we shouldn’t make moral judgments about people!

However, Witmer also avoids excusing an attitude of judgmentalism among believers in Jesus Christ. Correlation with other Scripture passages clearly denounce any attitude of superiority or invulnerability.

Witmer’s point could be further strengthened by an analysis of the train of thought in Matthew 7:1-12. His article is a good example of why context matters.

Check it out!