I Peter 5:5-6

"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders.  Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud.  But gives grace to the humble."  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time."  I Peter 5:5-6

Those with humility submit.  Their dealing with other people are very restrained.

It is interesting that Peter says "be clothed with humility," which in Greek literally means "put on the apron of humility."  An apron is a symbol of service.  He is likely thinking back to the last Passover with Jesus, where He "took a towel and girded Himself."  Then what did He do?  He served.  This leads to what humility produces next:  The humble choose to serve.  They do not fight - they serve.  They do not judge - they serve.

The Bible shows quite a number of men who did not look humble on the outside but were in reality - in the eyes of God - humble.  Moses and David were both warriors and powerful political figures.  In what way were they humble?  Regardless of what they were - judge, king, prophet - they submitted to God.  Regardless of what it cost them, they submitted to God, and sometimes they had to give orders or do things that we would consider to be quite difficult to do, like going to war or executing transgressors.

For a person to be humble in the biblical sense, he must know what is true and right, have a good grasp of reality, and submit to it.  Ephesians 5:21 and Philippians 2:3 both show in broad principle what humility tends to do to a person.  They are restrained, but at the same time they are constrained to serve and to submit.  Conversely, those who destroy unity are those who exalt themselves against God, men, doctrines, and right traditions (II Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6).

James 4:1-3

"Where do wars and fights come from among you?  Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  You lust and do not have.  You murder and covet and cannot obtain.  You fight and ware.  Yet you do not have because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spent it on pleasures."  James 4:1-3

This is vital because we find ourselves living a culture that is coming apart at the seams because each individual wants to execute his desires.  James tells us what happens when individuals begin to do this.

His basic question to Christians is, "Are we going to submit to God or to our desires for pleasure?"  Pleasure here does not mean "fun," as when one goes to an amusement park.  James is talking about the desire that normally arises within an individual, who must make the choice of whether or not he is going to follow through and gratify himself by fulfilling that desire.  So pleasure here means "that which gratifies."

He is saying to us that, if we seek our desires, then we had better understand that life will be filled with conflict.  Why?  Because everybody else is doing the same thing.  Their desires are likely different from ours, and so our desires runs headlong into their desires, producing arguments, struggle, strife, and ware over whose desire is going to be fulfilled.  When people do what is right in their own eyes, rather than submit to the central authority, desires will crash into each other, creating conflict.  It does not matter whether that central authority is the family, the culture, or God's Word.

This is happening constantly, but God has a solution.  It is not easy.  The solution is that each son of God bear the responsibility to govern himself, by faith, within the framework of His laws, His principles, His traditions, and the examples that He gives in His Word.  We have to submit to these things.

John 8:32 declares that the truth sets us free, but it will never set anyone free unless it is submitted to.  Truth is good only as it is used, so a person must submit to it.  Inevitably, differences will arise on what things should be done or how they should be done.  But God has a way of resolving these problems if we will submit and not succumb to impatience - if we do not force our will and thus force conflict.

Leviticus 1:14

"And if the burnt sacrifice of his offering to the LORD is of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or young pigeons."  Leviticus 1:14

The turtledove and pigeon represent mourning, innocence, powerlessness, meekness, and humility.  No labor is symbolized here, nor is uncomplaining submission, but rather harmlessness, a proclivity to make peace, and even sadness.  In Matthew 10:16, as Christ prepares to send the apostles out to represent Him, He instructs them:  "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves."  Later, the apostle Paul instructs the much-beloved Philippian congregation to "Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless..." (Philippians 2:14-16).

Isaiah draws on a turtledove's characteristic to describe Israel's social situation:

"We all growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves; we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.  For our transgressing are multiplied  before You, and our sins testify against us; and as for our iniquities, we know them:  In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.  Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.  So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey."  (Isaiah 59:11-15)

Overall, the turtledove's imagery is of humility mixed with sadness caused by the overwhelming accumulation of the effects of sin and repentant sorrow because we have been so much trouble to God. This quality is rewarding, as Psalm 147:3 comforts, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."  Psalm 34:17-19 adds, "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.  The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.  Many are afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."

Matthew 13:48-50

"which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered into vessels, but threw the bad away.  So it will be at the end of the age.  The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."  Matthew 13:48-50

Jesus tells us that the bad fish are thrown into the fire.  John the Baptist says this in a slightly different way in Matthew 3:12: "[Jesus] will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire."  This principle appears somewhat differently in the Parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46): Christ is Judge, and He sets the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left.  He judges that the sheep can enter eternal life, while the goats receive the destructive judgment of fire.

Although a final judgment is coming for the world, the church is now under God's judgment (I Peter 4:17; Revelation 11:1-2).  Not only is the sentence coming, but our conduct and growth are also currently being judged - Christ is evaluating whether we meet His high standards.  Ultimately, everyone is judged the same way, according to the same standard, by the same criteria.  The "bad fish" among us are not ours to judge, but Jesus, the righteous Judge, has promised to judge with equity (Psalm 98:9).

Matthew 13:50 says they are thrown "into the furnace of fire."  A similar thing occurs in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares: At the end of the age, the tares will be gathered and thrown into the furnace (verses 30, 41-42).  The emphasis in the Parable of the Tares is on the wicked and their evil works and their subsequent judgment.  However, in the Parable of the Dragnet, instead of highlighting the wickedness, Jesus focuses on the process of judgment, not necessarily on condemning evildoers.  Some people are condemned for doing wicked things, but others are saved and rewarded for doing the good works assigned to them.  God's calling is first impartial, and then His judgment is absolutely fair.  The wicked will get only what they deserve.

 God's "catch" is the church, a chosen cross-section of the entire world; He cast a wide net.  However, once those He calls accept Jesus Christ, God does show Himself partial to the "good fish" - those who love Him, obey Him, serve others, grow, and produce spiritual fruit.  In the process of salvation, God judges whether we are good, useable fish or substandard fish fit only for the fire.  He judges us according to how we measure up against His standard of righteousness, "the perfect man, ...the measure of stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13).  God throws His net into the world and drags us in, and if we are unwilling to comply with His holy standard, our eternal judgment will be to be discarded in the fire.

Presently, the church's function is not judicial but declarative.  On the one hand, the church is responsible to warn sinners of the dire consequences of sin and of the time of God's judgment coming upon all humanity.  On the other hand, we are to witness of God's way of life, as well as to proclaim Christ's return and the establishment of God's wonderful, benevolent government here on earth.  This is good news!

Revelation 10:9-10

"So I went to the angel and said to him, "Give me the little book."  And he said, to me, "Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."  Then I took the book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.  But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter."  Revelation 10:9-10

The little book was very pleasing to John's taste.  Such is the way we all approach the Bible.  We love to study it and find new things (Jeremiah 15:16).  It is very pleasing, even thrilling, going down, but the consequences of eating it are sometimes quite unsettling once we understand what it is telling us to do.  It can be even sickening in the way that it turns our world upside-down.

This "tasting good" can also be like our first love - when we are all zealous for God's truth.  Then, as we come to understand what it really means and how it affects our live, it becomes less and less sweet and more and more bitter.  It makes us do things that are wrenching to our lives.  This is where the bitterness comes in.  Our human nature often does not want to do the things that it tells us to do, which causes upset, pain, even personal calamity.  Sometimes we have to go against a family member who is perhaps staunchly religious but of a different belief, who does not like what we are doing.  It might cause the disruption of a family, the loss of a job, even persecution and death.  That is how bitter following the Word of God can be.  How is bitter is death?

It is likely that this phrase - his stomach became bitter - means that it did not just become queasy.  John threw up.  He fell to the ground and threw up everything he ate.  A little later, it says that the angel tells him, "John, get up.  Rise."  It is in the record to show us the normal reaction to God's Word, especially to the prophet or apostle who is commissioned to preach it.  God is working with symbols, behaviors, and starkly contrasting things.  The phraseology suggest a suddenness:  John loved it as it wen down, but it hit his stomach and came right back up again.  As in Ezekiel (there are a number of parallels between John's experience in Revelation and the prophet's in Ezekiel), God worked with a man's behavior.  God want us to see how wrenching taking God's Word into us is to a person's life.  WE come out of a world that is totally opposite of His way.  And when these two ways of life meet - like vinegar and soda - it cause a sometimes violent reaction.

Overall, the illustration shows that there is a great deal in God's way of life that is upsetting, especially when it comes in contact with our worldly way of be life before conversion.

Then the Angel tells John, "You have to speak about this."  The result of what has taken place is that now he has the inspiration, the information, and the strength to prophesy, or to preach, again.  Even though it caused this great queasiness, this upset, the unsettling, sickening, painful feeling, it still filled him and gave him the strength and energy to do the work that he was being given.

Ecclesiastes 7:20-22

"For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.  Also do not take to heart everything people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you.  For many times, also, your own heart has known that even you have crushed others." Ecclesiastes 7:20-22

"Others" here is referring to another person; it could even refer to a stranger.  What Solomon is giving us in this section (verses 15-29) is counsel for balanced living.

Verse 20 shows that no one on earth does what is right all the time, never making a mistake.  It is the character of a just man to do good, but that is not what always happens.

Then verse 21 begins with the word "also," which means "in addition," "likewise," "too," "in like manner," and "furthermore," suggesting that verses 21-22 continue the thought of verse 20.  In just about every situation, sin is involved.  Either we have sinned or others have sinned against us - or both.

Solomon advisers us not to pay attention to or take to heart everything people say, even if we hear an employee or someone under our authority insulting us - because we know that we have insulted other people many times.

Understanding the word "curse" is important here.  It does not mean "to invoke or bring evil or misfortune upon" or "to damn."  It is the Hebrew word qalal, which means "to make light, trifling, bring into contempt, abate."  One English word abate means "to make less,"  to reduce in quantity, value, degree, or intensity," "to beat down," and even "to deprive."

These verses do not give specific examples of what might have been said.  Perhaps it was a defaming remark, an unwarranted comment, and angry threat, a joke at another's expense, or deliberate untruths.  What was said is ultimately unimportant.

Commentator John Gill (1697-1771) writes in his Exposition of the Old Testament on verse 21:

"Seeing so it is, that imperfection attends the best of men, no man is wise at all times, foolish words and unguarded expressions will sometimes drop from him, which it is better to take no notice of; they should not be strictly attended to, and closely examined, since they will not bear it.  A man should not listen to everything that is said of himself or others; he should not curiously inquire what men say of him; and what he himself hears he should take no notice of; it is often best to let it pass, and not call it over again; to feign the hearing of a thing, or make as if you did not hear it; for oftentimes, by rehearsing a matter, or taking up word spoken, a deal of trouble and mischief follows."

In the face of provocation, the true quality of self-restraint is displayed in our ability to take it patiently with forbearance and longsuffering.  A person who is longsuffering is not quick to retaliate or promptly punish someone who has insulted, offended, or harmed him.

 

Ephesians 6:1

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise:  "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."  And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."  Ephesians 6:1

The context obviously addresses children and parents.  Paul makes it clear that children have a responsibility before God and that keeping the commandment has benefits for them to anticipate receiving.  This is in agreement with Deuteronomy 4:39-40.

One of the benefits he mentions is the prospect of long life, which also contains an implication of prosperity.  Not the least of the additional benefits is the gradual development of understanding and wisdom garnered from the parents, which themselves help to produce long life and prosperity.  Thus, in an overall sense, he is reminding children that obedience to truth has its rewards.

Is there an age at which or a circumstance under which the child's responsibility to honor his parents undergoes a change?  The answer is both "Yes" and "No," which is why Paul qualifies his charges to children.  His qualification is contained within the phrase "in the Lord."  It connotes what is within the boundaries of the Lord's way.  In all cases, the responsibility to honor one's parents diminishes when a child marries, and his or her first attention must be given to the spouse.  Cleaving to the spouse trumps the honoring of parents.  Paul qualifies this a step further by implying that, if the parents demand submission beyond the bonds of Christian conduct, that is, not "in the Lord" - such as commanding a child to lie in their behalf, steal for them, bow down to an idol, etc.. - in such cases the child's choice should be to submit to Christ rather than to his or her parents.  Submitting to God's commands trumps submitting to parent's  commands that are beyond what God commands us to do in order to stay "in the Lord."