Search The Scriptures —Study 1 — James 1:1-18

Study 1 From the Book of James is: James 1:1-18

A distinction is drawn in this passage between ‘trials’ (verse 2, 12), which may have positive effects (cf 1 Pet. 1:7), and ‘temptation’ (verses 13f.) which is the enticement to evil conceived within the human heart.

1.     Verses 2-7, 12. What is our mental attitude to trials to be. What is their purpose and goal? In trying situations wisdom (cf. 3:17) us be necessary. How in particular is this wisdom to be obtained?

2.     Verses 13-15. What is the origin of temptation, and what are the inevitable products of yielding to it? How can we avoid being deceived, and gain strength to overcome?

3.     Verses 9-11, 16-18. Contrast the impermanence of men, poor and rich alike, with the changeless consistency of God our Father. What also is God’s will for us, and what means does He use to fulfil it? How should these truths influence our attitude to life?

Notes

2.     Verse 17b. The eternal Source of light is not, like the heavenly bodies, subject to variation or eclipse.

3.     Verse 18. ‘A kind of first fruits’: the first fruits were evidence that the harvest had begun, and promise of more to follow.                             

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Search The Scriptures —Study 0 — Introduction of James

Study 0  From the Book of James is: The Introduction of  the Book of James

It is generally believed that this letter was written by James, the brother of our Lord. During Christ’s life on earth he was an unbeliever (Jn 7:5), but was converted when Jesus appeared to him after His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:7). He was austere in disposition and practical in character. In the book of Acts (see 12:17; 15:13-21; 21:18 and also Gal. 2:9) he appears as leader of the church at Jerusalem. He was killed by the Jews about AD 61.

The letter addressed to the ‘twelve tribes in the dispersion’ (1:1), that is, to fellow-Jews living outside Palestine. It is terse and forceful, yet vivid and dramatic in style. It begins and end abruptly, to encourage those who were passing through a period of trial and suffering; but at the same time rebukes such failings as profession of faith without the practice of it, sins of speech, strife and envying, eagerness to take the positions of teachers, and lack of steadfast endurance. He urges his readers to the ‘doers of the word, and not hearers only’, to express their Christian faith not in outward formality and barren profession, but by seeking to obey from the heart God’s perfect law of liberty in the manifold relationships of life.

The central thought is that ‘faith apart from works is barren’ (2:20). Justification is by faith, but the faith that justifies is a living faith which, by an inherent irrepressible necessity, must produce good works, or express itself in active self-committal and obedience.

Search The Scriptures —Study 3 — Malachi 3:7 – 4:6

Study 3  From the Book of Malachi is: Malachi 3:7 – 4:6

With this lesson, we end the book of Malachi and tomorrow we start with the book of James

1.     Of what are the people accused in 3:7-15? What must we make our chief concern if we wish to obtain God’s promised blessings?  Cf. Pr. 3:9, 10; Mt. 6:30-33; 16:25; Lk. 6:38. In what practical ways ought I to respond to this call?

2.     Two different classes of people are described in 3:13-16. To which do you belong? The wicked may seem to have the best of it, but God says here that, in contrast to present circumstances, He is going to make a day (3:17 and 4:3) in which the righteous and the wicked shall be openly distinguished and justly recompensed. How will this be effected? Cf. 4:1, 2 with 2 Thes. 1:7-10; 1 Jn. 2:28; 3:2; Rev. 6:15-17.

Note 3:11 ‘the devourer’ i.e., the locust.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 2 — Malachi 2: 10-3:6

Study 2  From the Book of Malachi is: Malachi 2: 10-3:6

1.     2:10-16. Although the people wept before the Lord, they found He would not regard their offerings. Why not?  What particular sin was coming between them and God, and what ‘heart condition’ underlay it? Cf. Heb. 3:12, 13.

2.     How is 3:1-6 and answer to the people’s complaint in 2:17? What similes are used to describe the day of the Lord’s coming? What must be put away? And on what must my heart be set, if I am to be ready to welcome Him at His appearing? Cf. 1 Thes. 3:12, 13; 1 Jn. 3:2, 3.

Note 2:10, 11. ‘Profaning the covenant of our fathers’: i.e., by marrying wives of other nations. Cf. Ex. 34:10-12, 15, 16. ‘ The daughter of a foreign god’ means a foreign woman of another religion.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 1 — Malachi 1:1-2:9

Study 1  From the Book of Malachi is: Malachi 1:1-2:9

1.     1:1-5. The people of Judah, lolling upon their condition and circumstances, were depressed and murmuring against God. What proof did the prophet adduce to show that God did love them as a nation? Cf. Pss. 34:15, 16; 73:26-28.

2.     Of what particular sins were the priest guilty? With what will God punish them if the remain impenitent? What was the root of their failure?

3.     What, by contrast, do we learn should be the quality and objectives of our service as messengers of the Lord of host? Cf. 2:5-7, and cf. 2 Cor.6:3; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 4:10, 11.

Notes

1.     1:2-4. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau.

2.     1:5. ‘ Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel’: the people had too small a conception of their God and this the prophet seeks to correct. Cf. verses 11, 14b

3.     1:8. Perfect, unblemished sacrifices were demanded (Lv. 1:3), and not the ‘rejects’ from the flock.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 0 — The Introduction of the book of Malachi

Study 0 From the Book of Malachi is: The Introduction of the Book

Introduction

Malachi (the name means ‘my messenger’---see 3:1) was doubtless a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah. He attacked the evils which arose at Jerusalem after the Temple was rebuilt and its services re-established, evil of which we have historical record in the book of Nehemiah.  ‘The religious spirit of Malachi is that of the prayers of is that of the prayers of Ezra and Nehemiah’. There is an ancient tradition which regarded ‘Malachi’ as a pen name, and assigned the authorship to Ezra himself.

This book is the more significant because it closes the Old Testament revelation. As a link between the law and the gospel, it combines severe insistence on the necessity of purity and sincerity of heart with the sure promise of the coming of a Deliverer to those who fear the Lord. Finally (4:4-6), it appeals back to the law and the prophets (of whom Elijah is the chosen representative). The fuller revelation will not contradict, its preparatory stages. The people are to find in the spiritual authorities they already know (i.e., in the Old Testament) their assurance for accepting Him who should come. So, on the Mount of Transfiguration, when the Father called men to hear the So, Moses and Elijah stood by to give their assent and to provide evidence that He was the fulfilment of all their anticipation. See Mt. 17:3-5; Jn. 5:46.

Search The Scriptures —Study 9 — Zechariah 14

Study 9 From the Book of Zechariah is: Zechariah 14

Tomorrow we will start the book of Malachi

Verses 1-5 appear to be a prediction of the fall of Jerusalem in Ad 70, together with a prediction of the Lord’s return. In the Gospel (e.g., Lk. 21:20-28) these two events are also described as if they were one. Then follows an account of the blessings that will ensue.

1.     Verses 1-5 describe the breaking in of the day of the Lord. Who will at that time be gathered against Jerusalem. What will happen to the city and its inhabitants? When and in what manner will the Lord appear.

2.     In the day of the Lord what further results will come to pass as regards (A) Jerusalem (verses 6-11; cf. Rev. 22:1-5; Jn. 4:13, 14); (b) those who attacked Jerusalem (verses 12-15); and (c) the remnant of the nations that have escaped (verses 16-19)?

3.     Picture the city as described in verses 20, 21. Are you aiming to see that your life is holy in every part? Cf. 2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Thes. 3:13; 1 Pet. 1:15, 16.

Note. Verses 20, 21. Every aspect of the city’s life will bear the mark of holiness—business life, religious life and domestic life. Verse 20b. The pots which were used for mundane purposes shall be as holy as the bowls which held the blood of sacrifice.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 8 — Zechariah 12 and 13

Study 8 From the Book of Zechariah is: Zechariah 12 and 13

These chapters contain a prophecy of a combined attack of many peoples upon Jerusalem and of the deliverance God will give (12:1-9), together with the repentance and cleansing which will be wrought within the nation by their vision and recognition of Him whom they pierced (12:10-13:9). The ultimate fulfilment of this prophecy will take place at the end of the present age (cf. Rom. 11:25-27), but it has a present application spirituality to all who belong to Him.

1. What is the secret of Jerusalem’s survival when threatened by so many enemies gathered together against it (12:1-9; cf. 14:3)? Has the Christian similar hope of overcoming the world, the flesh and the devil? Cf. Ps. 27:1 Jn. 4:4; 5:4.
2. What four experiences of God’s people are set forth in 12:10-13:9? Do you know them in your experience? (a) With 12:10-14, cf. Jn. 16:8, 9; Acts 2:37-40. (b) With 13:7-9. 1 Pet. 1:5-7.

Notes

1. 12:11. Hadadrimmon is thought to be a city in the plain of Megiddo (or Jezreel), where King Josiah was killed, the darkest and saddest event in Jewish history (cf. 2 Ch. 35:22-25).
2. 12:12-14.  Both the intensity and the universality of Israel's repentance are here emphasized.
3. 13:2-6. The prophets, having been proved false, shall be ashamed, and will seek to disguise the fact that they prophesied. The wounds (verse 6) are either wounds self-inflicted in their prophetic frenzy (cf. 1 Ki. 18:28), are either wounds self-inflicted in their probably wounds received by them though the attacks of people upon them (cf. verse 3c).

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Search The Scriptures —Study 7 — Zechariah 11

Study 7 From the Book of Zechariah is: Zechariah 11

While plain in its main teaching, this chapter is obscure in many of its details. Its theme is grace and judgment. It opens with a vision of judgment sweeping over the land and making it desolate (verse 1-3). God shows to the prophet that the promises of the preceding chapter will not be realized without further uprisings of evil (cf. 10:2, 3a). In verses 4:17 the prophet is bidden to impersonate first a good shepherd, and when he was rejected and despised a worthless shepherd, under whom the flock will suffer many sorrow. The section is a vivid foreshadowing of the coming of Christ (verses 12, 13; cf. Mt. 26:14, 15; 27:9, 10).

1. Verse 7. The good shepherd’s ‘two staffs’ (cf. ‘rod’ and ‘staff’ in Ps. 23:4) were named ‘Grace’ and ‘Union’, indicating that He came in grace to bind the flock into one. How far is this a picture of Christ? Cf. Jn. 1:14; 17:20-22.
2. How is the lot of those who deliberately refuse the good described? Cf. Mt. 23:37, 38; 2 Thes. 2:8.

Notes

1. Verses 7, 11. ‘Traffickers in the sheep’: ‘poor of the flock’ (AV) fits the context better.
2. Verse 12. ‘Thirty shekels of silver’: the price of an injured slave (Ex. 21:32). Cf. Mt. 26:15; 27:9

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Search The Scriptures —Study 6 — Zechariah 9 and 10

Study 6  From the Book of Zechariah is: Zechariah 9 and 10

1. The opening verses (9:1-8) are a prophecy of an invasion of Syria, Phoenicia and the country of the Philistines. The prophecy was historically fulfilled in the conquests of Alexander the Great. Bur, to whom is the prophet’s eye directed? How does this account, on the one hand, for the fall of Tyre, notwithstanding its wisdom, strong defences and wealth, and, on the other, for the preservation of Jerusalem? Cf. 9:15a and 2:5.
2. In 9-12 a picture is presented of Zion’s King, in which, as often in the Old Testament, His first and second advents are merged into one. What is said (a) of His character; (b) of the manner of His coming; (c) of the final extent of His rule; and (d) of the benefits He brings? Cf. Ps. 40:2-3; Joel 3:16b; Is. 61:7.
3. The remaining portion (9:13-10:12) has for its theme what God will yet do for His people Israel. Make a list of the things here promised, and reflect how they are symbols of spiritual blessings which are ours in Christ.

Notes

1. 9:1-6. Hadrach and Aram are probably Syrian town; Hamath, Tyre and Sidon are Syrian neighbours; Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod (verse 5, 6) are Philistine towns
2. 9:7. A prophecy of the abolition of idolatrous sacrifices, and the incorporation of the remnant of the Philistines among God’s people. The Jebusites were the original inhabitants of Jerusalem.
3. 9:8. When Alexander invaded these parts and swept through the coastal nations, nothing could stop his armies, but he was restrained from attacking Jerusalem.
4. 9:13-17. A prophecy of victory for Israel, when the enemy shall be trodden down like sling-stones and Israel lifted up like the Jewels of a crown. In verse 15b is another figure, representing the Israelites as drinking the blood of their enemies, with which they will be as full as the bowls used in sacrifice, or like the corners of the altar that were drenched in blood.

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