Golden Text: Psalm 119:160
Readings for the week:
Day 1: Psalm 119:153-160
Day 2: Jeremiah 8
Day 3: 2 Thimothy 2:14-26
Day 4: 2 Timothy 4:9-22
Day 5: 1 John 2:1-6
Day 6: Revelation 2:18-29
I- Who finished this book?
There are two possibilities about who finished this book, because obviously it wasn’t Moses. It is good to note that they are probabilities because both have some incongruity:
(1) Joshua finished it, although in the end he says that no prophet like him ever arose again, which does not agree with Jesus’ statement when he said of John the Baptist that he was the greatest among those born of women[1].
(2) Ezra finished it, but how would he know that Joshua did not know where Moses was buried if he never spoke of it again?
Despite these apparent inconsistencies, there is one conclusion that lends credence to the previous ones: “Joshua finished it and Ezra updated it.”[2]
II- Letters that discover the inexhaustibility of Scripture.
The last word in the five books of Moses is “Israel,” which reaffirms that all that scripture is an inheritance for the good of Israel[3]. In the same way, if we analyze the first letter with which the book of Genesis begins (ב) and the last letter with which Deuteronomy ends (ל), we also find another teaching, as the people of Israel have understood for more than 3,000 years, since they make up the word lev (לֵב) which means ‘heart,’ so the Pentateuch it was given to clarify hearts and instruct in the holiness and mercy that should characterize God’s children[4].
Finally, in this sense the book of Revelation ends with the word amen whose final letter in Hebrew is nun (ן), when combining this with that of Genesis another word ‘son’ also appears. God gives Scripture to His children, who submit to Him in willing submission and live in the family as children of one and the same Father. Moreover, this word accords with the general principle that must govern all interpretation in Scripture: “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”[5], and this is the Son.
III- Scripture is an inseparable compendium.
On the other hand, the harmony of the Torah announces another similar concordance in the entire written Word of God, which includes all the TaNaK and the Apostolic Writings. Each book in this library (which we commonly call the Bible) can be studied independently, but one cannot lose sight of the harmonious and dependent connection that exists with the rest of the books in this library. To do this is to decontextualize any of the texts that are studied independently.
For example, some interpreters of the New Testament have a tendency to look at their textual quotations from the “old” as the exact references and everything else is completely new, without understanding that the thought and syntax of the people of Israel in history, not being the exception of the first century, is nourished by all this God-given compendium.
Questions:
1.- What do you understand the psalmist meant by our golden text?
2.- What do you understand Paul meant in 2 Tim 2:16?
3.- What concept do you think John (Torah, Mitzvot, Edot, Chukim, or Mishpatim) means when he uses the word commandment in 1 John 2:4? Why?
4.- Share with the rest of the group the benefit you have had from going through these portions.
[1] Mt 11:11.
[2] To elaborate on this topic, study Book 4 of Advanced Community Discipleship (DAC), by the author himself (ISBN-13: 978-1686808470).
[3] It is recalled that in this material there is no preconception that defines Israel as the physical nation and the church as a spiritual separation. The church is the spiritual Israel that has always existed (those who are under spiritual citizenship and not under physical inheritance), into which the Gentiles who have been born again are also inserted. To elaborate on this topic, study Book 5 of Advanced Community Discipleship (DAC), by the author himself (ISBN-13: 978-1687203243).
[4] This is why we recommend ending the cycle of portions, with a feast of joy and testimony to return to the beginning of the cycle.
[5] Rev 19:10.
Under Construction..
Sal 119:160.
The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Psalm 119:153-160.
(ר) RESH
153 Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.
154 Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise! 155 Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.
156 Great is your mercy, O LORD; give me life according to your rules.
157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies.
158 I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands.
159 Consider how I love your precepts!
Give me life, O LORD, according to your steadfast love.
160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
Jeremiah 8.
1 “At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. 2 And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. 3 Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the LORD of hosts.
4 “You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD: When men fall, do they not rise again? If one turns away, does he not return? 5 Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return. 6 I have paid attention and listened, but they have not spoken rightly; no man relents of his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turns to his own course, like a horse plunging headlong into battle. 7 Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane keep the time of their coming, but my people know not the rules of the LORD.
8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. 9 The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them? 10 Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to conquerors, because from the least to the greatest everyone is greedy for unjust gain; from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. 11 They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. 12 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the LORD. 13 When I would gather them, declares the LORD, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them.”
14 Why do we sit still? Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish and has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD. 15 We looked for peace, but no good came; for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
16 “The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan; at the sound of the neighing of their stallions the whole land quakes. They come and devour the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it. 17 For behold, I am sending among you serpents, adders that cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you,” declares the LORD.
18 My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. 19 Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” “Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?” 20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” 21 For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
2 Timothy 2:14–26.
14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
2 Timothy 4:9-22.
9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.
22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
1 John 2:1-6.
1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
Revelation 2:18-29.
18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
19 “ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’