Josh Benner

Tag: bible study

  • The sustenance Jesus gives to a hungy world. Studying John 4:30-34

    The sustenance Jesus gives to a hungy world. Studying John 4:30-34

    In John 4, Jesus has met a Samaritan woman at a well and told her of the living water that he provides. It’s also a passage where we see this woman respond to Jesus by telling others about him. She’s the first evangelist to Christ in north Israel. 

    The woman asked the people “can this be the Christ?” She certainly doesn’t know everything about Jesus. But she’s gone to her people and told them about this man. She draws intrigue from her people. 

    John 4:30 says: They went out of the town and were coming to him. 

    A heavenly nourishment

    The Samaritan woman has left, and the story takes us back to Jesus and his disciples. 

    31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”

    Natural metaphors

    Jesus refers to food that he has and the disciples do not understand his reference. 

    Throughout John’s Gospel, there are many other instances where Jesus metaphorically talks of something from the natural world in a spiritual way and the audience misses the point. 

    When Jesus was at the temple and he said that they could destroy the temple and he would raise it up in three days. He was referring to his death and resurrection and his body as the true temple of God. The people just thought he was talking about a building. 

    When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about being born again. Jesus was referring to Spiritual rebirth but Nicodemus thought Jesus was talking about physical birth. 

    When Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman and talked of living water he provided and she initially thought he was simply referring to water. 

    And here again, Jesus refers to food and the disciples are like “did someone bring him a sandwich? Do they deliver pizza over here at the well?” 

    Verse 34

    “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

    Deuteronomy connection 

    Jesus is making a reference to the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 8. 

    The Israelites have been in the desert for 40 years and it has been the Lord who has sustained the people. 

     And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, 

    that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

    Jesus finds his sustenance in his earthly ministry in fulfilling the will of God. 

    That is his food. That is his nourishment. Man does not live on bread alone but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Jesus lived in accordance with the divine plan to fulfill the divine mission in the world. 

    What are we living for? 

    The mission of God is everything. 

    Living on purpose 

    I say all the time that the purpose of life is not happiness, it’s knowing and serving God. And we serve him through being part of God’s mission in the world. 

    But my point of that is not that we are called to drudgery and begrudging submission. 

    Rather, the point is that true life is found from the Lord and from serving him. 

    Jesus said “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

    And that should be the food for which we all long. 

    Borrowing an idea from Charles Spuregon, we so often like to think that if we could do exactly what we wanted, if we could orchestrate our lives exactly as we wished, then we would be happy. 

    What this verse is saying is the opposite. 

    Happiness is not about what we want, what we desire, having our way. Happiness, meaning, purpose is found in going away from ourselves and what we want and following the Lord and his will. 

    We are sustained by living for God and his will to accomplish his work. There is no greater sustenance than that. There is no greater nourishment than that. 

    Illustration – hoarding food 

    Jesus says: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

    So often, our focus is on our physical needs. And not just the bare minimum of our needs. We have fridges and pantries. Most of us in this country have days worth of food. 

    I think of coronavirus. When the crisis began, there was widespread reporting of people going to grocery stores. Some were hoarding and buying massive quantities. Locally, stores were running out of food. There’s still a shortage of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. I’m not judging that. I’d be hypocritical. I want to the store too. 

    But I think it’s illustrative of the inherent concern we have for our physical needs. It’s a typical human behavior in a crisis to want to stock up on food. 

    Food is important.

    But I ask: “how different would the world be if the people of God took our Spiritual needs with the same seriousness and urgency as we treated our physical needs?” 

    An urgency to go to God. An urgency to live out our faith. An urgency to rejoice in the goodness of God. To pray to God. To overcome sin. To study God’s Word. 

    Man does not live by bread alone.  

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  • Chosen to be king. Studying 1 Samuel 10:1-10

    Chosen to be king. Studying 1 Samuel 10:1-10

    In 1 Samuel 9, we are introduced to a man from relative obscurity named Saul. But we quickly learn that he was set aside for a very special task. He would be the First King of Israel. That’s a pretty incredible piece of news for a person to be told and so chapter 10 begins with the Prophet Saul anointing Samuel and then giving him further instructions to prepare him to become king. 

    Saul anointed as king

    Verse 1: 

    Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.

    Samuel anoints Saul in a private ceremony. 

    As always, anointing in the Old Testament is something done at the beginning of the ministry of a prophet or a priest, and now of a future king. It is meant to set someone aside for a divine task. 

    Saul is not yet king. And interestingly, just as we saw in chapter 9, this verse does not use the word king. It uses the word prince. This is another reminder that even though Israel will have a human ruler, God is still the king. 

    Saul will rule as God’s emissary in the land. 

    The people’s demand for a king

    As a reminder, though this will come up at the end of the chapter, the reason why Israel is getting a king is because they had asked for one. In 1 Samuel 8[], the Israelites had been in various struggles and wars. Samuel’s sons were not as godly as he was and the people did not want them to be in power and so the people demanded a king. 

    In that same chapter, the Lord warned the Israelites about how badly it would go for them. 

    More men will have to serve in the army, more taxes, more of their goods will have to be given up in service of the king.

    But the people still want a king anyway. 

    1 Samuel 8:19-20:

    No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

    They want a king because they think it’ll make life easier, even though they’re told it will actually make their lives much, much harder. 

    It’s especially interesting that one of the reasons why they want a king is so that they can be like all of the other nations, when God had chosen Israel and redeemed them from slavery in Egypt preciseisly so that they would not be like all the other nations. 

    Leviticus 20:26: 

    You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

    So you have a sinful nation who were trying to usurp God and who were graciously warned and yet still wanted a king anyway.

    Sometimes God gives us what we want. But in the process, we learn that what we wanted really wasn’t good. 

    Sometimes God’s “yes” is a judgment. Is that because God is unloving? No. But man is sinful and some of us seem to only learn lessons the hard way! 

    Romans 1:28 says: 

    since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

    God is the king Israel needs but he’ll give them Saul, the king they deserve. 

    Saul prepared to be king

    Now let’s take a step back and look at this all from Saul’s perspective. 

    That is quite the series of events. In chapter 9, he’d simply gone out looking for some lost donkeys and now he finds out that he’s going to be king! 

    What would you think if you were Saul? 

    I’ll just speak for myself. I’m a pretty skeptical person. There are lots of things I hear that I question. I think I’d have a hard time believing that a prophet picked me out from obscurity and that it was my destiny to be the king of a nation that’s never even had a king. 

    Three signs

    So to prove that it’s all true, the Prophet Samuel gives Saul three signs or prophecies which will happen which are meant to validate that he really has been anointed to be the king. 

    First, his lost donkeys will be found. 

    Verse 2:

    2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?” 

    Part of what this sign is also doing is tying up loose ends from Saul’s prior life. It is showing a completion of his former life as a farmer and things that will not be his responsibility when he is king.

    We see the second sign. People will give Saul bread. 

    Verses 3-4: 

    3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand.

    The New Bible Commentary is helpful on this verse. 

    There was a shrine at Bethel and the bread was meant to be given to the priests. So these aren’t just ordinary loaves of bread. They’re for a special purpose but when the people give the bread to Saul, it’s a reminder that he too has been set aside for a special purpose. 

    We see the third sign. 

    Verses 5-7:

    5 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you.

    This sign points to Saul having the necessary skills to govern. 

    Borrowing again from the New Bible Dictionary, “Once these signs had been fulfilled, Saul could have full confidence to act as king, because God would clearly be with him.”

    At this point, Samuel is still telling Saul what will happen.

    Next, he tells Saul what to do after these things happen. 

    Verses 8:

     8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” 

    So after the signs Saul will then spend seven days in the city of Gilgal and wait for Samuel. Gilgal was a city in the Benjaminite territory. Saul was a Benjaminte. 

    Gilgal was also the place where Joshua built the first monument to the Lord after the Israelites had crossed the Jordan and entered into the Promised Land in Joshua 4:20. 

    Verse 9:

    9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 

    This is probably the most hotly debated verse in this entire chapter. What does it mean that Saul was given another heart? Is that a metaphor for conversion or being born again? 

    Given that this event happens prior to the New Covenant, I don’t assume that it refers to regeneration. And given the way Saul’s life plays out, we don’t see much in the way of fruit or a life dedicated to God. 

    But in being given another heart, it points to Saul being equipped with what was needed to where he could have been a good king. 

    It’s also important that these verse mention that all of the signs that Samuel had mentioned came to pass. 

    Continuing in our passage. 

    Verse 10: 

    10 When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.

    The signs come to pass because Saul truly has been chosen by God to be the King of Israel. He’s chosen, he’s anointed, he’s been given the signs as confirmation. And at the end of chapter 10, he will officially become the first king of Israel. 

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  • Fruit of the Spirit – something we can’t produce

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    BUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS,23 GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL; AGAINST SUCH THINGS THERE IS NO LAW.

    -GALATIANS 5:22-23

    In the Book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit.

    It’s a section that fascinates me. Because the fruit is produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.

    There are certain areas in our lives we can control.

    Think about it.

    Honesty. You can force yourself to be honest. I’ll just choose to not lie. You can decide

    that for yourself. Honesty isn’t a fruit of the Spirit.

    Generosity isn’t a fruit of the spirit. You can choose to give more or to serve more to others.

    Those are things you can control.

    But the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

    These are things we don’t control in ourselves.

    They’re…the fruit of the Spirit. Not the fruit of our effort.

    Nine graces that God produces in believers.

    Love is a fruit of the Spirit.

    So what this passage is saying is that if you’re wain gin the Spirit, it will manifest itself in love.

    Now there are commands to love given in many places throughout the Bible. We should love people. We should demonstrate love towards others by actions.

    And that we can control.

    But it’s not just external actions, but in the depths of our soul, are we doing things out of love out of obligation or because we actually love people?

    Some people say that love is a choice, that it’s not about a feeling…

    That would be wrong. That’s JV love.

    Of course love is a feeling too. We are supposed to actually love people, to have affection in our hearts for people. To actually have a desire for what’s best for them and their own salvation and joy and grace.

    And there are people in our lives who are hard to love.

    And so to love those people is not something we have in ourselves. It must come from God.

    Another example: joy. You can’t create joy in your own heart. You can’t make yourself joyful.

    You can’t say “I didn’t have enough joy yesterday, but today, I’m going to make myself joyful.”

    You can’t do it.

    No matter how glad half full you try to look at things, no matter how much you try to force yourself to ignore the little inconveniences, you cannot make your own joy.

    You can pretend. You can bury emotions. You can try whatever the self-help gurus are saying to do. Just like love you can outwardly convey joy. But what about internally?

    True joy is something that you can’t produce. Joy comes from the Spirit.

    Joy is a supernatural delight in God brought about  by the Spirit. It’s because joy is supernatural that joy can exist even in difficult circumstances. We have joy from seeing the glory and goodness of Christ.

    The Spirit illuminates us to the good things of God. Jesus talks of this in John 16:14: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

    Let’s look at another piece of fruit.

    Peace.

    Peace is not merely the absence of war. But peace is safety, harmony, wholeness and unity.

    The peace that Jesus brings is a restoration of a relationship that had been lost due to sin.

    You cannot give yourself internal peace. You cannot make yourself feel peace with God.

    It’s a fruit of the Spirit.

    Romans 14:17 says: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

    The fruit of the Spirit is supernatural.

    It’s fruit.

    You don’t cause fruit to grow.

    Quoting Tim Keller: “A gardener doesn’t make the things grow. The gardener just creates the conditions through which the power of the seed is released.”

    Another idea Keller brings up. What doe she contact the fruit of the Spirit with?

    It’s not the weeds of the flesh. It’s the works of the flesh. We commit our own sins. We choose to sin. We are responsible for our own sins.

    And again, there’s both an internal and an external aspect to the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. So with something like kindness or patience, yes you can behave at work and act nice to someone.

    But are you thinking nasty things about them while you’re doing it?

    Then you’re not really kind are you? True kindness is because you desire to be kind not because you feel you have to be. And you can’t make yourself kind.

    We should know the fruit of the Spirit.

    We should desire to grow in all of these areas.

    And yes, there are times where our outward actions might outpace our inward desires.

    We should be loving, or kind, or good to people, because we know it’s what God desires. But as we walk in step with the Spirit, as we walk with the Lord, more and more, we will do these things because it’s what we also want.

    It’s the new life God produces in believers.

    Originally published January 8, 2019

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

     

  • Saved by grace through faith – Ephesians 2:1-10

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    And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
    -Ephesians 2:1-10
    Every other year, LifeWay research and Ligonier Ministries conduct a “State of Theology” survey. In last year’s survey, they asked 3,000 professing Christians various questions regarding faith, theology, and values.
    Results of the survey were not very encouraging.
    Just to give a couple of examples.
    52% of respondents agreed with the statement “everyone sins a little but most people are good by nature.” 51% agreed with the statement: “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.”

    (more…)

  • Wrath and judgment – did God command genocide in the Old Testament

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    When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
    -Deuteronomy 7:1-2
    In Deuteronomy 7, the Israelites are just outside the land and the Lord gives a challenging command. The Israelites are told to wipe out the nations who inhabit the land.
    It’s not a popular idea. It’s a notion that many find reprehensible and immoral. For skeptics and people who believe in other religions, it’s fodder for them to undermine the teachings of the Bible.
    God is using Israel as a divine judgment for cleansing the land against wicked nations who lived totally contrary to the will of God. It was divine mercy that God had allowed these nations to exist as long as they did. But their sin eventually reached a braking point.
    The judgment was divine and righteous judgment.
    In this judgment, everything needed to be destroyed. The people, but not just the people. Also their livestock, also their crops, also their gold and possessions.
    It was all given to the Lord. The point wasn’t plunder for the Israelite’s gain because victory was from the Lord and everything was given to the Lord.
    Part of the reason why they had to be wiped out was that it was trying to preserve the Israelites from idolatry.
    It’s a very challenging idea. It’s a very unpopular idea.
    For a student of the Bible, I’d like to include a few thoughts on this challenging passage.
    God is just. 
    The fact that God doesn’t wipe out anyone immediately due to their sin is evidence of God’s grace and mercy. No one deserves grace. We willingly sin and transgress against the holy and righteous God of the universe.
    This judgment wasn’t Moses’ idea, or later, Joshua’s idea. It was God’s judgment. It wasn’t the Israelite elders who decided they should do this. God decided.
    And it was ultimately God who was enacting his judgment.
    Judgment for a particular time and place
    It was not meant to be a worldwide judgment. It was clearing out the land. Once the Israelites were in the land, there aren’t any indications that they were supposed to become raiders just attacking other groups or committing violence for its own sake.
    This command was for the Israelites in the specific context of the Promised Land.
    Israel never followed through at carrying out this judgment 
    While it might seem unfair or unnecessarily harsh, The Israelites never actually fully enact the devoting of their enemies to destructing in the land.
    And it is to their own peril and difficulty as they will historically be plagued by idolatry and turning away from the Lord.
    Picture of future judgment 
    For anyone who will not bend a knee to God, there will be a day of reckoning. This is a foretaste of the final judgment. There is an eternal consequence for rejecting the Lord, because without his saving grace, we are dead in sin.
    Opposing the Lord comes with severe consequences.
    God is just.
    And no one dies who would have otherwise repented. No one goes to hell because they didn’t have enough time.
    It’s not because God is mean. Not because he’s unfair.
    But because he is holy and righteous. And God cares about his own holiness.
    The good news is that God has made a way for people to avoid all of that. It’s a matter of trusting in the gospel. Believing in the Lord.
    We can’t be good enough, we can’t earn it. Our only hope is Jesus. God with us. Who lived a sinless life so that all who believe in him could be forgiven.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. His hobbies include working out, watching sports, and photography. Josh and his wife Kari live in Minnesota.

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