1 Timothy - Complete set

Complete notes on 1 Timothy are now available on Dundee Believer

Acts 9:10-14 - Look for a man of Tarsus

9:10-12

In Damascus the Lord called to a disciple named Ananias. It is quite normal for God to speak to people. Now it is not that common to receive audible words, the Bible is our primary source of hearing from God, but sometimes God does speak directly to a person. It seems that God called Ananias in a loud voice. Ananias answered. God then told him where to go in order to meet Saul o Tarsus. Note that God has also prepared Saul for this meeting, giving Saul a vision of Ananias laying hands on him so his sight would be restored. Notice the kindness towards Saul from God, in telling him that his blindness was temporary.

9:13,14

It is interesting that there is a conversation between Ananias and the Lord. Indeed, this is a feature of many interactions between God and His servants. We need to appreciate what God was telling Ananias to do. Everyone had heard of Saul and knew what he was about.  God’s command to Ananias was like telling someone to go to the Gestapo commander. Moreover, Ananias knew why Saul had set out for Damascus.

Hosea 8:4-7 - Reap the whirlwind

8:4-6

If we read 2 Kings 15:8-30 we see that political life in Israel was a bloody matter. They had completely shut God out of civic affairs in Israel, so chaos and bloodshed was the consequence. We need to beware of this today. God is being increasingly shut out of public life. The consequences will not be good. Some worry about a theocracy, but when God is given His rightful place we actually find that we have more freedom.

The riches of the kingdom were devoted to making idols, this would lead only to destruction. The bull was often worshipped in nations of the time, and we know that when Moses went up the mountain the people made a golden calf. In 1 Kings 12:26-30 we see that people were even claiming to be worshipping the Lord.

As well as being an offence to the Lord it was also absolutely stupid. How could a calf made by a metalworker be capable of saving them? But when a people reject God their thinking becomes futile.

8:7

“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind”. This is a well known phrase, and this is where it comes from!  The principle of sowing and reaping is very common throughout the Bible, namely that what we do has consequences. In worshipping idols and making alliances with godless nations Israel was sowing to the wind. The result would be that destruction would come upon her. Her efforts would be totally fruitless, and even if they did yield anything, the fruit would go to foreign nations, not to Israel.

Acts 9:5-9 - Who are you Lord?

9:5

Paul recognised the voice as being heavenly in some sense, calling Him Lord, but Paul did not recognise Him. In all his zeal Paul had not actually been serving God. More to the point, he did not know God. Part of the gospel is that we will know God and recognise Him. Jesus said His sheep know Him and recognise His voice (John 10:14). A sign of someone not knowing God is that they are serving a cause, rather than serving a person. What Paul was actually doing was persecuting Jesus, persecuting the Lord. We should all watch ourselves to ensure that we do not move from serving the Lord to serving a cause.

9:6,7

Paul is then told what to do. Note that in this there is no part given to any choice on Paul’s part. Jesus chooses to appear to him, and then Jesus tells him what to do. Once in the city he would be told what to do.

The men who were with Paul were speechless. They had heard the voice, so knew what had been said to Paul, but they had seen no one. So they would know that someone or something was calling into question the whole of Paul’s life.

9:8,9

Saul got up, but was now blind. Why did God do this to him? Was it symbolic of Paul needing to be guided by the Spirit, instead of by his own intellect? This is not to say that we should not use our brains, but we can become so full of ourselves and our supposed understanding, that we start to rely on this instead of relying on the Lord. As it says in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. We are meant to be a people who are led by the Spirit. Let me say it again, this does not mean we don’t use our mind, but the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. As soon as our own wisdom becomes the foundation then we are in big trouble. So Saul was led to Damascus. He remained blind for three days and did not eat or drink anything.

Hosea 8:1-3 - Israel has spurned the good

8:1

This is probably one of the many places where it is useful to ignore chapter divisions. Israel had sought relief in the form of help from other nations. This chapter tells us what the result will be, and it isn’t good! The trumpet was to give a warning sound. The invading army is probably Assyria, and the imagery of a hunting eagle is used (though it could also mean vulture). Imagery is used in prophecy to make the impact more dramatic, to give the hearers a better picture or feel of what was going to happen.

This attack was not the result of a capricious action by God, but a judgement upon the persistent sin of the nation. They had broken the covenant and rebelled against the Law.

8:2,3

Israel would cry out that they did worship the Lord, that they did know Him. But in reality they had rejected the good, they had rejected God’s ways. We see the same in many churches today over LGBT issues. They claim to be acting in line with Christ, yet they utterly reject the word of God. They have rejected the good. So the result will be that the enemy will pursue them.

Acts 9:1-4 - Saul, breathing threats and murder

9:1,2

Sometimes people wax lyrical about Stephen’s death having made an impression on Saul/Paul and this playing a part in his eventual conversion. Well maybe, but the Biblical evidence for this is precisely zero. At the beginning of chapter 8 we read that Saul approved of Stephen’s execution (8:1) and then was ravaging the church (8:3). Here we read that Saul was still breathing threats and murder and was on his way to Damascus to round up a few more Christians. Nor was Paul discriminating between men and women, if they followed Christ then he wanted to imprison them. This is the Biblical picture of Paul immediately prior to his conversion.

9:3,4

The reason Paul was converted is because God intervened. At no point in the tale does the will of Paul seem to come much into the picture. Paul was on his way to Damascus to capture a few more Christians, then a “light from heaven shone around him”. Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice saying “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul thought he was acting for the Lord in persecuting the church. He, along with the other religious leaders, had been blinded by Satan.

He did not realise what he was doing. By the way, this does not make him any less guilty. Far from acting for the Lord, he was acting directly against the Lord. If someone persecutes a Christian, then they are persecuting Jesus Himself.

We all know that while here he is known as Saul, later he is known as Paul. When and why did his name change. There is a very good article on this here. His name was not changed. As was quite common in those days, he had two names. Saul was his Jewish name, and Paul his Greek name. In his persecuting the church days using his Jewish name made sense. Later when he was the apostle to the Gentiles, becoming all things to all men, using his Greek name was the obvious thing to do. This was not a name change given to him by Jesus, unlike with Simon becoming Peter.

Hosea 7:13-16 - They devise evil against me

7:13

Now look at this verse. There are three key messages that come out of it. First, the people are heading to destruction because they have sinned against God. They have strayed from God and rebelled against Him. Next is that God longs to redeem the people. And finally, He cannot redeem them (treat the word “cannot” with caution here, for this is just part of the picture) because they speak falsely about God. We can see exact parallels with our own society. It is certainly true that we have strayed from God’s ways, and are living in ever increasing rebellion against God. It is also certainly true that God longs to redeem us. And it is also true that we speak falsely about God. The picture of God presented by the world is certainly false. Sadly, the picture presented by much of the church is equally false.

7:14-16

God wants us to cry to Him from our hearts. Instead the people just wailed on their beds in agony. The reference to “slashing themselves” is that cutting oneself was a practice associated with the worship of some idols.They turned to idols instead of to the living God. There was no excuse for this, for God had trained them. He had given them the Law, He had sent prophets. They had every opportunity to learn from the Lord. Their leaders were no good, and so would be humiliated. Egypt was one of the countries they turned to from time to time, but they would be ridiculed in this land.