Jesus is Our Salve

My Bible Study began a new study for this year. We've been studying 2 Timothy with Beth Moore, Entrusted. Just to set you up.... Paul is speaking to Timothy as he is the pastor of the church of Ephesus and is in need of encouragement and exhortation.

2 Timothy 2:16-18 16But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.

I was curious to find out more about the "spread like gangrene" part of this verse. This is what I found and I pray it makes sense and I pray even moreso that I have understood correctly….

γάγγραινα, γαγγραινης, ἡ (γράω or γραίνω to gnaw, eat), a gangrene, a disease by which any part of the body suffering from inflammation becomes so corrupted that, unless a remedy be seasonably applied, the evil continually spreads, attacks other parts, and at last eats away the bones: 2 Timothy 2:17 (where cf. Ellicott). (Medical writings (cf. Wetstein (1752) at the passage cited); Plutarch, diser. am. et adulat. c. 36.) 

What I also found interesting is that in v. 17 the word “spread” means to actually have an increase of evil, like gangrene.

Interestingly enough the greek root word for gangrene is very similar to the greek root word for gnaw (see above). The definition for gnaw means to eat away little by little. So if I have understood correctly, then I understand this verse to mean irreverent, empty speech that produces godlessness from those who have deviated from the truth (as Paul mentions to Timothy) spreads evil so quickly among us and that the evil will gnaw away at us bit by bit until it eats away at our bones.

Jeremiah 20:9 says, “His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones.”

Since the fire of the Lord is in our bones, then let's also remember 2 Tim 1:6 which says to “keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you”

So what is the remedy we can seasonably apply to the "gangrene" that threatens us?? The grace of Jesus is our salve. We cannot buy the lies of Satan. The lies that we believe when Satan tells us only half truths of who God is. Heresy about the Word of God such as Hymenaeus & Philetus were spreading. Gossip that sneaks into our minds and ears with the intent of bringing harm to those around us. It is only the grace of Jesus applied to the evil that surrounds us that we can stop the gangrene from spreading.

If we do not hold ourselves accountable to the study the truth, then the irreverent, empty speech that produces ungodlessness in others has the ability to gnaw away at us little by little. The evil will spread until the flame that was in our bones is slowly put out and our faith has dwindled. We must hold onto the beauty of God’s word. Know what it says. Keep it whole. Keep it righteous. Keep it holy and guard it in our hearts.

Thank God He is still faithful even when we are faithless. (2 Timothy 2:13) We must do what we can to fan the flames… the gifts that God has given us… lest we miss out on some abundant blessings from the Father. In the words of a scared parent asking Jesus to heal his son, "Oh God, help my unbelief"! (Mark 9:24) (emphasis added is my own). May we hold onto Jesus through all manner of storms and hold onto His correct teaching that we may not allow gangrene to take hold of us in any way.

Serving with Gladness

I want to share with you about the ability to rejoice at the feet of Jesus & serving Him with a glad heart. How blessed we are to stand in His courts and worship Him!

There was a tribe of Levi out of the Israelites named the tribe of Korah. Also called the Kohathites.  We learn what their responsibilities were in Numbers 4. The Kohathite clan was responsible for the duties of the sanctuary and all the work relating to it.  When the Israelites were ready to move camps then Aaron (the high priest) would go in and cover everything in the Tent of Meeting. Then it was the Kohathites job to come in after everything was covered and they would transport all of the items. They were warned not touch the holy objects or they would die.

 

photo credit The Laymans Bible

However, move on into Numbers 16 and a rebellion begins against Moses. Korah was 1^st cousins to Moses & Aaron. No doubt he felt jealous of the great calling that Moses & Aaron had received. He says to them (in so many words), “Just who do you think you are?” “What makes you so great that you get to be the leader & high priest over all of us?”

Moses reminded Korah that he was also ministering to the Israelites. He got to perform the work of the Lord’s tabernacle. Moses then asked Korah, “Isn’t that enough?”

It says in Numbers 16:31-33, “Just as he finished speaking all these words, the ground beneath them split open. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, all of Korah’s people, and all their possessions. They went down alive into Sheol with all that belonged to them. The earth closed over them and they vanished from the assembly.”

It took all of the men who served in that ministry. It took their wives, children, home, and all their possessions. We’re talking thousands of people! That’s one big hole in the ground!! It was there…. And then it wasn’t anymore.

I tell you this because I think it’s a really cool story! I also tell you this as a reminder that we all have an important part to play in the body of Christ! 

Some in the tribe of Korah were spared, though. I want to read to you Psalm 84. Think about these words as they were written by ancestors of the Korathites.

Psalm 84

Longing for God’s House

For the choir director: on the Gittith. A psalm of the sons of Korah.

¹ How lovely is Your dwelling place,
Lord of Hosts.
² I long and yearn
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh cry out for^[a] the living God.

³ Even a sparrow finds a home,
and a swallow, a nest for herself
where she places her young—
near Your altars, Lord of Hosts,
my King and my God.
⁴ How happy are those who reside in Your house,
who praise You continually.Selah

⁵ Happy are the people whose strength is in You,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baca,^[b]
they make it a source of springwater;
even the autumn rain will cover it with blessings.^[c]
7 They go from strength to strength;
each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Lord God of Hosts, hear my prayer;
listen, God of Jacob.Selah
⁹ Consider our shield,^[d] God;
look on the face of Your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better a day in Your courts
than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather be at the door of the house of my God
than to live in the tents of wicked people.
¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield.
The Lord gives grace and glory;
He does not withhold the good
from those who live with integrity.
¹² Happy is the person who trusts in You,
Lord of Hosts!

Think of it in these relatable terms written by Beth Moore:

“O God our Shield, You may turn Your face to look on us one more. We are the anointed servants You assigned to a task. We are not guilty of our father’s sins, for we have found complete satisfaction in Your courts! Hear from our hearts, O God! We are a people humbled to accept any form of servitude You would grant us. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to take up residence in the finest abodes this world could boast. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.”

God created you to be set apart in a specific ministry that He created just for you! He has a purpose for you! Don’t allow even a day to go by that you aren’t submitting to all that He has for you. Better is one day in His presence, serving & worshipping Him than living 1000 days elsewhere. Desire Jesus and use the gifts He has given you to offer up to Him and serve Him diligently!

Psalm 100:4-5 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Make Me a Servant

In my weekly bible study we are studying the tabernacle with Beth Moore in A Woman's Heart. We are looking at what led up to the reason for needing the tabernacle and of course sin in the Garden of Eden is where our break in communion with God began. As we studied the Garden of Eden this week, then there were things the Lord spoke to me.  I shared them with my sweet sisters and now I want to share them with you!

Genesis 2:15 says the Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work and take care of it. The word “take care” here in verse 15 also means to guard the garden.  However, Adam didn’t do that, did he? He allowed the serpent to come in. The serpent shouldn’t have even made it to his wife, Eve, but he did. Adam wasn’t doing what God had commissioned him to do.

courtesy of pearls of promise ministries

Genesis 3:24 says that God drove out man and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.  The word guard here is the same word used when Adam was instructed to take care of the garden. Now that Adam wasn’t there to guard it, then the Lord instructed the cherubim to do it.

Interestingly, the garden was Adam’s tabernacle. Adam was like the priest and the garden was the sanctuary. The garden was their place of worship. The place of worship for the Israelites was the Tent of Meeting. It was instructed to the Levites, the anointed priests, in Numbers 3:7-8 says “They are to perform duties for him (talking about Aaron here) and the entire community before the tent of meeting by attending to the service of the tabernacle. They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting and perform duties for the Israelites by attending to the service of the tabernacle.” The commission given to priests regarding the tabernacle was the same commission given to Adam in the garden. Work it. Take care of it. Guard it.

So I share this with you.  The same way Adam was called to serve God by guarding & caring for the garden, the priests were called to guard & care for the tent of meeting because it was their sanctuary. We too are called to guard and take care of our sanctuary. Our church. We are called to serve our church. Adam didn’t guard his church nor did he guard his heart. Adam didn’t obey God’s commission and now that he wasn’t there to serve the Garden, then God had to use someone else. He used the cherubim.

God is going to do what God is going to do. We can do it with him or we can do it without him. Doing it with him, obeying him, and serving him allows us to receive His blessings. Or we can choose to ignore His commission & not guard against those who will seduce us into sin. Like Adam, we will miss blessings and all that the Lord has planned for us.

So we must guard our church and guard our hearts. Because of Jesus, our bodies are our temple now. The Holy Spirit no longer resides in the garden or a tabernacle. He resides in us! Let’s do as He has commissioned us. Like Adam and the Levites, we must work & take care of our church. We must care for & guard our souls. If we don’t allow the Lord to use us, then He will surely use someone else.