James 1:1-8

“From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings! My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways.”

— ‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭8‬‬

Only two or three men could possibly be the James here. The apostle was murdered in AD 42 (Acts 13). The most likely option is James, the brother of Jesus. This leaves the remarkable classification of “slave of God and Jesus.” Post resurrection, James’ view of his half-brother changed, and he became the leader of the church in Jerusalem (see Acts 15). He is fully surrendered to Jesus as Lord. Some argue against him as author based on grammar and his lack of mentioning Jesus, but there are counter arguments that can be discussed elsewhere. 

Diaspora: scattered tribes. Jewish Christians ran away from Jerusalem. This started in Saul’s persecutions, but also by Agrippa I in AD 44. Acts 11:27-30 talks about a famine at this time period. Poverty greatly affected all, and Christians were no exception. Wealthy landowners would certainly have sided with Agrippa and his view of believers. James’ book is begging believers to put faith in practice and care for one another. 

After greeting the 12 tribes, James turns to the most pressing issue that would be facing these people scattered throughout the empire: some form of persecution. Since James is probably the earliest book written in the NT (probably early 40s), this is probably not like the full blown persecution of Nero or later emperors. But these people are facing trials, perhaps ostracized from family, business deals not going through, etc. This maybe similar to the audience in 1 Peter. 

This theme of calling for joy in the middle of danger relates to other passages in James: how do poor and wealthy relate to one another? Where do we find wisdom? How does believing in Jesus affect everyday life? 

James 1:2 is one of those verses that seems nearly impossible to obey. 

Testing/trials is same word here and in v. 12-13. It certainly has negative connotation (tempted to sin) in vv 12-13, but here it can’t mean that. James uses the idea of wisdom to relate the two. James is probably using the term in a neutral way and surrounding verses inform his intended meaning each time.

I always hesitate to classify everything in my life as a “trial.” Considering what this audience was facing or Christians around the world are facing, there’s certainly a spectrum of “various kinds of trials.” But the need for endurance remains. 

Specifically, I would think these trials are those that are “testing faith.” Forcing these people to question if God cares, or if Jesus is worth it, or if they need this Christianity thing at all. I don’t know of many situations that make me ask those questions, but sure I’ve been on that spectrum of line of thought. Haven’t reached the end of that path, but those questions are rough. 

Those types of situations rarely produce a joyful emotion. That’s way down the list of responses. But biblical joy is never based on a whim or bubbling over just from reaction.

James gives a reason for joy, so it does imply some thought process. Testing faith produces endurance. It makes the faith stronger. It shows me that God’s power and presence is real. It shows that my situation is not nearly as fearful as I anticipated. It demonstrates that Christ is worth my faith and worth following.

There’s some similarity to Abraham in Gen 22 and Job here. Testing faith isn’t always for God’s benefit. He knows our heart, how we’ll respond. But a trying situation will demonstrate to us His love and presence. It may be more for our benefit.  Cf Rom 5:2-5; 1 Pet 1:6-7

The word “lacking” obviously links vv. 4-5. When we’re surrounded by a chaotic situation, we definitely need wisdom. And God loves to give it to those who are seeking it. 

I don’t think James is condemning all doubt. We are going to have seasons of questions that need answers, where we wrestle with our faith. But James is talking about asking for wisdom, knowing that God will give it. 

Double minded is a person who has a divided attention. Per the context, it seems he/she is doubting that God will give wisdom. Other passages talk about double mindedness, and could mean devotion to God is divided for other things. This individual is unstable and unable to receive from God.

Proverbs 31:10-31

“Who can find a wife of noble character? For her value is far more than rubies. The heart of her husband has confidence in her, and he has no lack of gain. She brings him good and not evil all the days of her life. She obtains wool and flax, and she is pleased to work with her hands. She is like the merchant ships; she brings her food from afar. She also gets up while it is still night, and provides food for her household and a portion to her female servants. She considers a field and buys it; from her own income she plants a vineyard. She begins her work vigorously, and she strengthens her arms. She knows that her merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out in the night. Her hands take hold of the distaff, and her hands grasp the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hand to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all of her household are clothed with scarlet. She makes for herself coverlets; her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is well-known in the city gate when he sits with the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and honor, and she can laugh at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also praises her: “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all!” Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. Give her credit for what she has accomplished, and let her works praise her in the city gates.”

— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭10‬-‭31‬‬

 I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a discouraged woman, whether wife, mother, or neither, because of reading Proverbs 31 and not seeing this as a reality in their lives. If that’s the case, we may need to tweak our understanding. Obviously no one is perfect—man or woman— and we can all grow in wisdom, but this passage can’t be the Christian “standard” for women.

The following are select portions from NET notes on this section. It was too good not to reproduce:

“The book of Proverbs comes to a close with this poem about the noble wife. A careful reading of the poem will show that it is extolling godly wisdom that is beneficial to the family and the society. Traditionally it has been interpreted as a paradigm for godly women. And while that is valid in part, there is much more here. The poem captures all the themes of wisdom that have been presented in the book and arranges them in this portrait of the ideal woman (Claudia V. Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine in the Book of Proverbs, 92-93). Any careful reading of the passage would have to conclude that if it were merely a paradigm for women what it portrays may well be out of reach—she is a wealthy aristocrat who runs an estate with servants and conducts business affairs of real estate, vineyards, and merchandising, and also takes care of domestic matters and is involved with charity. Moreover, it says nothing about the woman’s personal relationship with her husband, her intellectual and emotional strengths, or her religious activities (E. Jacob, “Sagesse et Alphabet: Pr. 31:10-31,” Hommages à A. Dont-Sommer, 287-95).” 

Regarding the structure and literary background of the passage:

“In general, it appears that the “woman” of Proverbs 31 is a symbol of all that wisdom represents. The poem, then, plays an important part in the personification of wisdom so common in the ancient Near East. But rather than deify Wisdom as the other ANE cultures did, Proverbs simply describes wisdom as a woman. Several features will stand out in the study of this passage. First, it is an alphabetic arrangement of the virtues of wisdom (an acrostic poem). Such an acrostic was a way of organizing the thoughts and making them more memorable (M. H. Lichtenstein, “Chiasm and Symmetry in Proverbs 31,” CBQ 44 [1982]: 202-11). Second, the passage is similar to hymns, but this one extols wisdom. A comparison with Psalm 111 will illustrate the similarities. Third, the passage has similarities with heroic literature. The vocabulary and the expressions often sound more like an ode to a champion than to a domestic scene. Putting these features together, one would conclude that Proverbs 31:10-31 is a hymn to Lady Wisdom, written in the heroic mode. Using this arrangement allows the sage to make all the lessons of wisdom in the book concrete and practical, it provides a polemic against the culture that saw women as merely decorative, and it depicts the greater heroism as moral and domestic rather than only exploits on the battlefield. The poem certainly presents a pattern for women to follow. But it also presents a pattern for men to follow as well, for this is the message of the book of Proverbs in summary.”

Proverbs 7-8 would also seem to support some of this, since 7 is how to avoid the adulteress woman, and 8 is “Lady Wisdom.” She pleads for all to follow her ways. So she is personified, but in a way that people should implement principles of wisdom. Who can find wisdom? It’s found by incorporating the principles of the book. And then one will become a woman or man of wisdom.

The interesting point is that (as the NET mentions), there is very little about her spiritual or familial roles. The primary emphasis is economic and some social. Not only can we not expect everyone to fulfill these ideals, but also this conclusion makes it more obvious that it’s discussing wisdom/wise principles of Proverbs.

When this is understood, it makes it easier to go verse by verse, identify other Proverbs passages that illustrate this, and agree that wisdom is better than foolishness. 

Ephesians 5:15-21

“Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬-‭21‬ ‭NET‬‬

Who did you want to be when you grew up? Not what but who. Anybody? I don’t think I really had anyone specific. Some people have an awesome sports icon or music person.

VV 1-2 of this chapter command the Ephesians to be “Imitators of God, as beloved children.” Now we all know that kids like to copy what their parents do. Little girls will slip into mom’s high heels. Kids will put on adult hats, or sit behind the steering wheel. 

But be imitators of God. Doesn’t that seem kind of far-fetched, Paul? What does this require of us? That I know God as my Father. That I can act like Him. This flows from Paul’s prayer in chapter 3 that I would be filled with the knowledge and character of God. That the immense majesty of God’s glory would strengthen me, so that I could understand His love. Because v. 2 commands me to walk in love, remembering Christ’s tremendous sacrifice. Again, imitating what’s been done for me. 

Now I want to jump down to vv. 15-17. The rest of this chapter fills in the gaps of living as God’s children in a terrible and sinful world. We are His children, though. We should be different.

We should be careful to live with a mindset of wisdom, not foolishness. There are traps and dangers lurking all around, potholes and ditches. Sinking sand. If we are not careful, always alert, we can trip, we can fall. You all know that our culture, our world, our entertainment, the philosophies and worldviews of our day are crawling with error and deceit. And lies lead to wrong behavior. Paul says, Be careful. 

Now, when he says, Make the best use of your time, is that like, “Man, I really need to wake up at 6:00 to get a healthy breakfast, to squeeze in a good solid workout before going to school/work? Get all my chores done? Buy three planners and time all my events perfectly, so that I don’t waste a second of the day?” I just don’t get the feeling that Paul is talking about my personal schedule in an entire chapter on imitating God. 

So as a child of God in a perverse world, how would I not waste an opportunity?

Discovering God’s will is always a topic of interest for people, but I think we make it more complicated than it needs to be. There are a few verses that tell us exactly what it is—we just wrestle sometimes with daily decisions that affect our personal path for years to come. That’s okay.

But v. 17 is the key. The path to understanding God’s will is not rolling dice, asking a bunch of questions, praying a gazillion prayers and not making decisions until you feel warm and bubbly, or reading the Bible until that one special verse sticks out. That’s not how the Bible works. A lot of times, God’s will is as simple as not being foolish. And that means analyzing your past, present, and future in light of strong biblical truth and realizing what’s best for your life. It’s biblical wisdom. What decisions are you going to have to make in the next six months? Are you prepared to do that carefully? Wisely? In a way that imitates God’s character and love or the philosophies and deceit of the world?

Ephesians 5:18 is tricky, because it has been misunderstood based on the preposition “by the Spirit.” I use the illustration of pouring a glass of water from a pitcher. If I represent the glass, most people would see the water as the “Holy Spirit,” in that I am to be filled with the Holy Spirit. (And the typical meaning of that is parallel to the drunkenness half of the verse—He controls me/guides me.)

But Wallace’s grammar confirms that the little preposition (see this post on the preposition) after this passive verb rarely means “content.” And when we step back to see Paul’s use of “filling” verbs in Ephesians, we gain more insight. Paul’s prayer in chapter 3 has already said we should be filled with the knowledge of God—and that verb is used with a noun of content. So the water in the glass is the knowledge of God. The character of God. Paul wants us to be filled with that. The Spirit then is the pitcher being used to fill us with the knowledge of God. This is a preposition of means. It answers how we are to be filled. (There’s one more use of “filling” in Ephesians in chapter 4. Jesus is the one “filling” all things, so one could say that Jesus is the one completing this process.) 

Paul says, I want you believer not to be drunk. Those people can’t control their bodies. They can’t control their mind. That only leads to more immorality and wickedness. But I want your mind and your being to be filled with the knowledge of God, and I want the Spirit to be the one who leads you on the path of understanding who this God is. This will lead you toward wisdom. This will lead you to be distinct from the world. This will allow you to reflect His goodness  and love in a world that doesn’t know much about either.

And then Paul gives the most perfect three point sermon. You may read vv 19-21 and think he’s just giving lots more commands on what we should do. But these are all related to the command to be filled by the Spirit. And they all give a picture of what it will look like when the Spirit is filling us with God’s character. They answer the questions, So what? Or To what end? (These are participles of result)

V. 19.  You know how you know if the Spirit is filling the individuals of our church with the character of God? We sing tremendous songs of faith to Him with all of our heart. Can you sing? Now I don’t mean, Do you have much talent? Few of us do. But when you consider how much you know of God, how much He has shown His love for you, is there a joy inside that spills out in song? Forget how it sounds. Even in times of trial and testing, a song of faith can help you recognize the goodness of God and the mercy He has extended to you.

V. 20. Being filled by the Spirit immediately results in our dropping to our knees and acknowledging that we did nothing for anything that we own, that we did nothing for our eternal life or spiritual inheritance. God deserves all praise. Are you thankful? Or is the Spirit still in the process of filling you with a much better perspective of who God is?

V. 21. The third action that results from a proper understanding of God’s character is the Spirit enables us to submit to one another. Look around. In this text I don’t see any distinctions. So what does this mean? It’s easy to look down on others, judge certain individuals for this or that, and think, “Oh, yea they’re doing that job in the church or serving in that capacity makes sense.” But how does every member submit to every other member, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status, etc?  

Because what’s our tendency? Oh, well, I’m going to look out for me, myself, and I. And, sure, I love these people. We’re all Christians. But at the end of the day, I’m still going to get what’s most important. Paul says, That’s not the character of God. That’s not wise. That’s very very foolish.

Be careful how you walk. Pray for the Spirit to fill your mind with attitudes that reflect that nature of God. So that you can sing to Him. So that you can thank Him for His many many blessings in your life. So that you can treat others as much more important that yourself.

Psalm 2:1-12

“Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail? The kings of the earth form a united front; the rulers collaborate against the Lord and his anointed king. They say, “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! Let’s free ourselves from their ropes!” The one enthroned in heaven laughs in disgust; the Lord taunts them. Then he angrily speaks to them and terrifies them in his rage, saying, “I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.” The king says, “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ‘You are my son! This very day I have become your father! Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your personal property. You will break them with an iron scepter; you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” So now, you kings, do what is wise; you rulers of the earth, submit to correction! Serve the Lord in fear! Repent in terror! Give sincere homage! Otherwise he will be angry, and you will die because of your behavior, when his anger quickly ignites. How blessed are all who take shelter in him!”

— ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭12‬‬

Mark Futato, Interpreting the Psalms, is one of my most important “go-to” resources for understanding this book. I know there’s hundreds of fantastic books on Psalms and/or commentaries, but this is a small resource to have handy when working through them.

He was one of the first to point out for me the structure of the book. Psalm 1-2 are introductory, with Psalm 1 giving the “why” (wisdom) and Psalm 2 giving the what (submission to the king). The rest of the book does have the 5 books of the Psalms, showing Israel’s history loosely, ending with the praises/doxologies.

We can visualize a battlefield or a large area where multitudes of people are shaking fists, beating shields, yelling in defiance of the king. They devise schemes to perform a coup against him and want to be free from his reign. There’s only one problem: rebelling against the king is rejecting YHWH’s rule as well. YHWH as established the king over this designated territory.

I would assume this is the all the land promised to David and Solomon in their respective covenants. This was at the height of the Israeli empire. Didn’t last long. Would also need more information on how Israel treated her conquered enemies. At least not as bad as Assyria, and of course, we would need to read all records through ancient eyes.

The point of this Psalm, though, is for God to defend his anointed king. The essential thought here is that “son” “God’s son” “son of God” comes from Psalm 2 and 2 Samuel 7. It refers to the king of Israel, and was passed down the Messianic line. This is not foreign to the culture, as Egyptian Pharaohs were pretty much divine. Son of God is not a divine title, per se, but it does show that God is with the king, blessing the king, has chosen the king, will defend the king.  

“This very day” has hints of this being a coronation psalm. This song was probably sung for every rising king.

I will give you the nations, rule with iron scepter. God’s reign through these kings was to defend justice and righteousness. The king had a serious responsibility to uphold the status of God’s people in the world. The wisdom of Psalm 1 began with the king and worked through the people. 

The call for the nations is to submit. By yielding to the king, they would show submission to the true God. Otherwise, their own destruction would come. Rebellion led nowhere quickly. 

“Blessing” points back to Ps 1:1, where wisdom is obedience. Here, obedience leads to refuge. Futato does a great job of showing how several Psalms link these ideas in alternating songs.

Yes, of course, Jesus brought an initial form of the kingdom. He is the ultimate king of Israel/Messiah, and the unique Son of God who truly is divine. Blessing and wisdom come from yielding to His reign. But we must work through original meaning to follow the trajectory until He comes in pattern fulfillment.   

Proverbs 3:5-12

 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own estimation; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will bring healing to your body, and refreshment to your inner self. Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled completely, and your vats will overflow with new wine. My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord, and do not loathe his rebuke. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.”

— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭12‬‬

NET breaks this early part of chapter into 1-4 (admonition) and 5-12 (obedience to Lord). 

First two verses are some of the most recognizable in Proverbs. NET does word studies on most of the major words, but there really isn’t much to dig into here. Trust and rely are synonyms, and basically mean to put confidence in/ use as support. The contrast is whether we use the Lord or our own understanding. God’s wisdom vs. human wisdom. It really doesn’t take much research to see how that goes. The problem is that humans are always necessary to interpret the divine wisdom. There’s the rub and source for even more debate.

As with all Proverbs passages, the key here is going to be genre/wisdom literature. Straight paths? Healing? Financial freedom? This is straight prosperity gospel, but this is contrasting way of wisdom vs fools. I love using the word “skill” or being “clever” when discussing wisdom literature.

This is the type of verses that would speak to a wider audience bc everyone can apply these things.

Not the time to debate discipline or types of discipline. How does God discipline? Are we meant to discern discipline from God vs. bad things in life? Some probably doubt that God even disciplines, but for Proverbs, discipline of some sort = love. 

This is a tough issue to understand all the nuances from a practical standpoint. Theologically it may be easy. We have the verses to nail it down. But how does it actually work? And how does it affect our view (and others who may have a different background from us) of God?

And how can these verses contribute to not only my understanding of God but my wise approach to becoming more clever?

Matthew 10:16-18

 ““I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues. And you will be brought before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles.”

— ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭16‬-‭18‬‬

Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30 also has imagery of wolves. 

2nd Discourse in Matthew (Missions Discourse). Jesus sending disciples out throughout Israel to announce kingdom and even perform miracles. Many instructions throughout passage, and not time here to discuss all of them. 

They would face danger obviously. They would face opposition. Not all would accept the message. Not all these words would be fulfilled in this journey but throughout their ministry. Perhaps Matthew has collected things that Jesus said throughout His ministry, even toward the end and gathered them into this one discourse before the missionary journey of the disciples. Would not be uncommon for gospel writers.

Wise as serpents: Something along the lines of don’t go looking for trouble…it will find you. Don’t be brash, rude, foolish. Modern debate is on the word “winsome” or “clever” and people argue over whether we need to package truth how people are more willing to receive it. 

Innocent as doves: Again, trouble will find you, so don’t do anything that makes accusations stick. Of course, we’re not perfect, we have enough problems without creating our own by stupidity or sinful woes. 

These ideas (not just these but throughout entire chapter) need to be teased out more for modern application. Especially defining who “people” are, those who we should “beware.” We may be highly misunderstanding who the enemy is. How should we be engaging/interacting with culture/those people? What does it mean to be “attacked”? Go ask Christians around the world first to gain broader perspective.

Proverbs 1:7

 “Fearing the Lord is the beginning of moral knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

— ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬‬

Fear is a word with three main meanings: terror, awe, and respect. Occurs many times with all three meanings, but that doesn’t mean we can pick and choose which meaning we like best. Fearing God is perhaps best exemplified at Mt Sinai (Ex 20). Israel both shrinks back in terror which ultimately leads them to honor His commands (at least they say they will).

Too often we make this phrase more palatable and say it’s “just” reverence/respect. Everyone who “met” God in OT fell on face, ran and hid, etc. There were storms, earthquakes, winds. Probably because he usually showed up in judgment cause people were not being wise. 

No, I don’t think God wants us to be afraid of Him, but if we knew who He was, we naturally would. This is only one aspect, though. Of course, He’s also father, friend, king, etc. Take each book as it is. 

Moral knowledge includes idea of experiencing the making of wise choices, not just head knowledge. This idea is throughout Proverbs. Those who have a healthy view of God have more skill at life. Those who have an irreverent view of God and an unhealthy view of themselves are not skilled at life.

Genre of Proverbs: General, timeless principles—not all the time guaranteed promises

Matthew 7:24-27

 ““Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!””

— ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬-‭27‬‬

Clearly correlation between knowing/believing and obeying. 

“Words of mine” is the sermon as whole, or Jesus’ reinterpretation of Torah. New kingdom ethics.

Living as citizen of kingdom is way of wisdom.

Sermon classifies as wisdom literature. Yes commands but this is classic wisdom language. 

James has echoes of sermon throughout James and he has this portion in chapter 1. Doers of word…