Joshua 1:8 and 2 Timothy 2:14

BIBLICAL LIVING
Joshua 1:8 and 2 Timothy 2:15
PART 1: PERSONAL BIBLE STUDY

Introduction:

The Bible Says that the all scripture is God-breathed! The Word of God is the most ancient literature and at the same the most popular, current and pertinent book in the world.

Last week I found an article from MSNBC: the title of the article is, Artifact suggests Bible written centuries earlier. Do you notice that every time there is an archaeological discovery in the Palestine that is related to the Judeo-Christian faith and the claims of the Bible, the discovery always supports conservative scholarship and the literal claims of the Bible? The article reads:
Scientists have discovered the earliest known Hebrew writing — an inscription dating from the 10th century B.C., during the period of King David's reign.
The breakthrough could mean that portions of the Bible were written centuries earlier than previously thought. (The Bible's Old Testament is thought to have been first written down in an ancient form of Hebrew.)
Until now, many scholars have held that the Hebrew Bible originated in the 6th century B.C., because Hebrew writing was thought to stretch back no further. But the newly deciphered Hebrew text is about four centuries older, scientists announced this month.

I’m not a Hebrew scholar, but having been to seminary and studied Old Testament theology (including Liberal theories), Jewish culture and the Hebrew language, I have to admit that I have never encountered the argument that “many scholars have held that the Hebrew Bible originated in the sixth century because Hebrew writing was thought to stretch back no further.” I think maybe the journalist may have made that up.

The article puts the weight of the authority in the hands of some obscure unknown group of ‘many scholars” and slants towards an extreme Liberal position as the consensus that even Liberals would consider too liberal and ill-informed to be credible scholarship.

Apparently the inscription that was discovered was written sometime during the reign of David (and don’t forget that Liberal scholars doubt that David ever reigned or that the Israelites ever even ruled over the land of Canaan); so once again we have another piece of objective evidence to verify the authenticity of biblical history.

But the Bible is not just a collection of human records of historical facts and genealogies- it’s supernatural! We don’t need artifacts to prove it, we have the Holy Spirit who resides within us to lead us into the truth the Bible is authentic. Nevertheless, the artifacts demonstrate to a skeptical world that our faith is not blind faith!

Today, the Bible is a pretty hot commodity- even 3000 years after that inscription was first written. The New Yorker (a magazine not known for its patronage of conservative biblical scholarship) claims,
The familiar observation that the Bible is the best-selling book of all time obscures a more startling fact: the Bible is the best-selling book of the year, every year. Calculating how many Bibles are sold in the United States is a virtually impossible task, but a conservative estimate is that in 2005 Americans purchased some twenty-five million Bibles—twice as many as the most recent Harry Potter book. The amount spent annually on Bibles has been put at more than half a billion dollars.

And the American market for Bibles is small potatoes compared to countries like India with its more than one billion population and where the growth of the church could quickly outpace the growth in North American. Even if Christians are minorities in Countries like India and China- 2% of 2 billion people and growing is a huge number.

Even though it is officially shunned in Canadian politics and mocked by the heavily liberal biased media, the Bible is still hot in politics. You see it especially in the United States where it is impossible to voted president without at least pretending to believe and quote it often in political speeches. Lincoln’s Bible was the most significant symbol in Obama’s inauguration.

Another place where we see the popularity of the Bible is in, of all places, Hollywood. The recent sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica was heavily soaked in biblical themes such as election and free will, creation, Noah’s flood, the exodus and the second coming of Christ.

The movie Eli opened in theatres last week. The premise of the movie all about a post apocalyptic world in which the hero is charged with saving the last remaining bible from authorities who want to destroy it because they blame the Bible for causing the Apocalypse.
In fact, I don’t know about other languages, but English literature would be an empty shell if it were not so rich in biblical themes and language. Imagine Shakespeare without the Bible?

Unfortunately, in the United States (and I can only assume the statistics are much worse for Canada) even though (according to Gallup) approximately 92% of home have at least one Bible, about 37% (42% of women and 32% of men) actually read there Bible at least once per week. Apparently in the United States, 12% of adults believe that Noah's wife was Joan of Arc and 75% actually believe that the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves.

There was a time in so-called ‘Christian North America’ that even unbelievers knew the content of the Bible. But in modern times, we can’t even count on Christians to know the contents or believe that they are true. Listen to these statistics from George Barn:
• Less than one out of every five born again adults (19%) has a biblical worldview, which is unchanged in the past 15 years
• Just half of all self-identified Christians firmly believe that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles (not the facts, just the principles) that it teaches
• Barely one-quarter of adults (27%) are confident that Satan exists
• Only 4% believe that poverty is an issue that is primarily the responsibility of the Church

George Barna is a statistician and someone I would personally consider soft on the importance of a right understanding of the Bible (not a liberal- just pragmatic); but listen to his comment on the state of evangelicalism:
“Bible reading has become the religious equivalent of sound-bite journalism. When people read from the Bible they typically open it, read a brief passage without much regard for the context, and consider the primary thought or feeling that the passage provided. If they are comfortable with it, they accept it; otherwise, they deem it interesting but irrelevant to their life, and move on. There is shockingly little growth evident in people’s understanding of the fundamental themes of the scriptures and amazingly little interest in deepening their knowledge and application of biblical principles.

Even Barna grieves the loss of the Bible as the central authority of the Christian faith. What he is describing is the usurping of the Bible as the authority with personal subjective feelings and opinions over matters of faith.

Exhortation:
So here’s my exhortation and I will conclude with some application. In the Book of Joshua, one of the greatest heroes of the faith, Joshua (who was a prototype of the messiah and one of the greatest military and religious leaders of all time) made this astonishingly audacious statement:
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Talk about the Audacity of Hope! The Bible makes the promise that speaking the Bible, thinking about it day and night and doing what it commands will make you prosperous and successful- with tribulation (and it seemed to work in the lives of men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, Daniel and others).
But some extreme critic might say, yeah but that was the Old Testament and at that time (by the way more than 400 years earlier than the inscription)… at that time the only book of the Bible that they had was the Law and we’re not under Law, we’re under grace.

But I say the principle still applies to Christians. First of all because the advent of grace does not diminish the value of revelation, it heightens it and grace does not reduce the value of blessings (as we saw in 2 Corinthians) grace intensifies the glory. So if the Law promised prosperity and success, then grace promises it more abundantly (with tribulations).

Nevertheless, this side of Calvary, Paul gives a similar instruction… command …to Timothy, that (although it is given to a pastor- Timothy) I believe that it extends to all Christians (2 Timothy 2:15): “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” This was at a time when the only scripture was the Old Testament, nevertheless, the command extends to the New Testament.

Notice that the command appears in the context of warning Timothy against engaging in useless quarrels. I have a confession to make: this is very convicting and something I have to be reminded of often. I really struggled with this Bible College and Seminary due to pride- because I wanted to prove that I knew more than others.

So I was always walking around looking for a theological fight. I couldn’t just listen to a sermon and worship God; I had to find something wrong with what the pastor was saying so that I could prove I knew more than him. At a time when I should have been overflowing with joy because I was so blessed to be immersed in the study of the Bible, I was never happy and I alienated a lot of people.

One of the advantages of not being a cult or having a Pope where we are told what to believe is that that we are free to follow our own consciences and convictions about theological matters. We are all life-long learners who are being formed and reformed by our growing knowledge and understanding of the word. This is also a disadvantage too because it leaves room for a variety of controversies and errors. The fact that we disagree with one another over secondary matters is a sign of health because it means that we are thinking for ourselves and that is not a mark of a cult.

What I have learned as I have studied and grown in my understanding of scripture is that I have had (and certainly continue to hold) of mistaken views- just like everyone else. My view on the sovereignty of God has swung from one extreme to another over the past decade and I hope it is more balanced and biblical now than ever. Just being able to read the Bible in Hebrew and Greek has opened up new windows of experiencing the word in deeper and richer ways. The more I come into contact with other cultures, the better I understand the culture of ancient Israel and how my culture affects the way that I read the Bible.
What I’ve learned is that if it is possible for me to argue a position that is wrong and still be a work in progress and loved by God- then it is also possible for others to hold opposing views that are sometimes wrong (and sometimes they are right)- and so a whole lot of humility is required for our dialogue on theological matters (i.e. be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within with gentleness and respect).

You can get this command of Paul to Timothy half right by labouring in studying the word and still be wrong because you are seeking the approval of men and not God- to win fights. And even though your argument is truth, it is truth without love.

Paul calls our study of the Bible labour- its work. In fact, I have had many jobs, I was a glass cutter for many years and worked in the decorative glass industry starting out at the very bottom doing the work that no one else would do. I also worked in a saw mill for about four years starting out on the green chain piling up lumber. I’ve also dug ditches, and done other labour. But labouring in the word is the most challenging work I have ever done! It’s exhausting. But the difference is that it is so rewarding and something I would never want to give up.

It’s like the feeling you get from working in your backyard garden- in spite of the dirt in your finger nails, the scratches and cuts, the soar knees, the slivers and aching back. The reward of a colorful, lush, life giving garden is its own reward. They can’t pay you to do it.
Conclusion:
So according to the Bible, there is a blessing that come when we study it. The blessings include prosperity and success as well as the approval of God, hope and joy even in the midst of the worst affliction, assurance and most importantly sanctification by the truth and freedom. So let me suggest some things that will help you in your application of the command of Joshua and Timothy:

Set aside time for personal bible study and choose a book of the Bible that you have always been wanting to study (try a small book like Ephesians). Make sure you understand the differences between different genres of literature. You cannot read Ephesians the same way that you read the book of Revelation. Revelation is a highly figurative book that requires a really good understanding of the historical context in which it was written as well as the Old Testament metaphors that it draws upon. Ephesians on the other hand is a letter with many exhortations and commands that are intended to be taken literally and applied to all Christians. Likewise, you cannot read historical narrative such as the book of Acts or the Old Testament book of Judges and interpret stories that occur as commands for normal behaviour.
For instance, in the book of Judges Jephthah made a tragic vow that resulted I him having to kill his daughter. Just because something happens in historical narrative, does not mean that it is a command for all time nor is it something God sanctions.
• Good translations include ESV, NASB and NKJV
• Find a good study Bible and some commentaries
• Online resources – Bible Gateway
• Fee and Stuart- How to Read the Bible For all Its worth
• Sermons- John Piper (avoid negative preachers if it makes you angry)