June 2017 – Page 3 – Michelle Lesley

Have you ever wondered why so many of the “good guys” of the faith – like Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon – had multiple wives, but today, Christians consider polygamy to be a sin? I was wondering about that recently, so I asked my friend, Pastor Gabe Hughes of When We Understand the Text (WWUTT), and he was kind enough to answer my question on his podcast. WWUTT is a ministry I highly recommend, from Gabe’s daily Bible study podcast (also available on iTunes) to WWUTT videos to Pastor Gabe’s blog. Be sure to check it out!

Listen here, starting at the 10:30 mark.
(Or, do yourself a favor and listen to the whole episode!)

Here’s the transcript of my question and Gabe’s answer:

Michelle:
We know from Gen. 2:18-25 that God’s plan for marriage is one man/one woman. It would seem that this concept is transcendent, or timeless, since God made this pronouncement in the Garden prior to the giving of the Law.

Genesis 2:24 sounds like imperative language. Is it a command, in that, taking multiple wives is a sin? If so, were men like Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon sinning by having more than one wife? If they were sinning, why don’t we ever see God calling them to repentance for the act of polygamy? (the act itself, not just its consequences- Deut. 17:17, 1 Kings 11:3-4)

Could 2 Samuel 12:8 be understood as God approving of polygamy?

Do Deut. 17:17 and 1 Tim. 3:2,12/Titus 1:6 allow for the idea that polygamy is not OK for those in leadership positions, but is OK for non-leaders?

If God did not consider polygamy to be a sin in the OT, but does consider it to be a sin in the NT (if that’s a correct way of viewing it), how does that fit with His immutability (Num. 23:19/Heb. 13:8)?

Gabe:
We tend to lump polygamy in with sexual immorality, but the Bible doesn’t. When you go through lists of sins that will keep someone from the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, etc.), notice that polygamy is never listed. That’s because sexual immorality is any sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage, and polygamy is still sex within a marriage. So it is not in the same category as sexual immorality. It’s still sin because it’s against the law of God. It’s just not as grave a sin.

Polygamy is never directly confronted in the Old or New Testament, except to say that marriage is to be between one husband and one wife until death (Matthew 19:5, 1 Corinthians 7:39, 1 Timothy 3:2, etc.). In the requirements for an overseer of the church, the pastor or the elder is to be a husband of one wife. He is a mature Christian, and is to be an example for the saints under his care. Therefore, we know this is what Christ expects of his followers: for those who are married, it is to be one man and one woman for life.

So why is polygamy never directly confronted, in the Old Testament or New? This is conjecture on my part, but I believe the reason is so no one would be led to believe they need to divorce all their wives but their first. In Bible times (both Old and New), a woman who had sex — whether she had been married and divorced, or even raped and forced into sex against her will — was considered no good (hence the laws in Deuteronomy 22). Had a woman who was wife number 3 in a marriage been divorced because her husband had an attack of conscience, she would be forced into a situation that would leave her destitute, resulting in either slavery or prostitution (consider 2 Samuel 13:20).

Now, despite the fact that we often single out characters like Abraham and Jacob, David and Solomon, polygamy was not a common practice (and polyamory was practically non-existent). If it was practiced at all, it was among the rich. And it was either a sign of wealth, or it was considered a benevolent act. For example, David married Abigail when her bonehead of a husband died. Abigail would not have inherited Nabal’s household, as we think of in an American context — she would either have gone to live with family or become destitute. David took her as his wife to show appreciation for her kindness. In the case of Solomon, his wives were his possession, and his interests were divided between the God of his father and the gods of his pagan wives (as in 1 Timothy 6:

In Malachi’s rebuke against Israel, he said, “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless” (Malachi 2:16). For those Israelites who had married pagan wives, they broke the law of God, but they weren’t to divorce their wives. Likewise, those who had taken multiple wives had broken the law of God, but weren’t to divorce their extra wives. Rather, they needed to remain faithful to their covenant vow, and teach their children what God intended marriage to be so not to repeat the sins of their fathers.

In countries today where polygamy is practiced, missionaries tell these husbands not to divorce their wives, lest their wives become destitute and their children fatherless. But they should teach their children that when they grow up and get married, they are to only have one spouse. The Bible explicitly says how God designed a marriage is to be, and that is sufficient.

Mailbag

The Mailbag: Did Jesus Really Teach Karen Ehman’s 3 Step Life Plan?

June 12, 2017June 8, 2019 Michelle Lesley

Have you read Karen Ehman’s new book? She takes Matthew 22:36-40 and says this:

Jesus asserts that the entire teaching of God-all the law and the prophets – hinge upon these commands which can be summed up in this 3 step life plan:
1. Love God
2. Love others
3. Love yourself

Is this a biblical way of looking at this passage?

It’s great that you’re being a good Berean and examining this teaching (as we should with all teaching) “to see if these things [are] so.”

I’ve never heard of Karen Ehman before and haven’t read any of her books. The quote above is a very brief excerpt and – in the same way we don’t rip Bible verses out of context and try to interpret them – I’m hesitant to try to extract deep meaning from it without a broader grasp of what she’s trying to teach (i.e. more context), so I’ll be limiting myself to the quote you’ve sent and not trying to speculate on her theology in general.

However, there are a few problems with the quote itself that could be as minor as sloppy wording that needs cleaning up or as major as false doctrine. Without more context I just can’t tell.

1. To say that “the entire teaching of God” equals “all the law and the prophets” isn’t too problematic if you’re a first century Jew, but it’s going to be confusing to the 21st century reader. At the moment in history when Jesus spoke this passage, all the law and the prophets was the entire written teaching of God. But remember, Jesus, at this point in Matthew, is nearing the end of His earthly ministry. He has been teaching for about three years, so that’s three years’ worth of God’s teaching that hasn’t been written down yet- the gospels.

And what was Jesus teaching during those three years- keep the commandments? No. He was introducing the new covenant: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15) If you’re going to use a phrase like “the entire teaching of God” for New Testament Christians, you really need to be talking about Christ and the gospel, which will include all of the New Testament as well as the Old. Jesus did not teach a three step life plan of commandment-keeping, He taught that all of the Old Testament points to, and is fulfilled in, Christ and the gospel.

2. As I mentioned, context is indispensible when it comes to understanding Scripture. I don’t know if this quote was lifted out of a chapter in which Karen is exegeting the entirety of Matthew 22 (in which case the quote wouldn’t be completely inaccurate) or if she is making her own point about Christians following this “three step life plan” and flying in verses 36-40 to try to support it. If it’s the latter, she has taken these verses out of context and incorrectly interpreted and applied them.

If you back up and read 21:45-22:46, looking particularly at 21:45, 22:15, 18, 23, 34-35, 41, 46, it’s easy to see that most of the things Jesus is saying here are in direct response to (or at least within earshot of) the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, who are asking Him questions- not because they’re genuinely trying to learn and looking for a life plan to follow, but because they’re trying to trap Him and find some grounds for discrediting or arresting Him. If Karen had at least included verses 34-35 in her quote (and she may have addressed these verses outside of this quote, I just don’t know), this would have been much clearer.

Jesus is not saying – either to the Pharisees He was talking to then or to us now – “Here are the three guidelines by which I want you to live your life.” They’re asking Him a question on a point of Old Testament law and He’s answering them according to Old Testament law. They weren’t sincerely asking Jesus how He wanted them to live, and He knew that. And that’s probably the reason He answered briefly and didn’t continue teaching them. He knew they weren’t interested in believing in and following Him- they were out to get Him. Why give what is holy to dogs or cast His pearls before swine, right?

3. We need to understand that the commands Jesus refers to in this passage are just that: commands. Old Testament law. Christians are neither saved nor do we grow in Christ (sanctification) by striving to keep Old Testament law. Galatians 3 is very clear about this:

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

As Christians our singular focus is to love Christ. That’s the engine that pulls the train. Obedience to commands, growth in holiness, evangelism, fruit, faith, knowledge of God’s word, all of those things are the train cars that follow, and are propelled by, the engine. When we make obeying commands (especially Old Testament commands) our primary focus, we’ve got things backwards. The caboose is trying to pull the engine. Christians are led by the gospel, not Old Testament commands.

4. The most glaring problem with this quote, and one that no additional context can justify, is number 3: “Love yourself.” You will search long and hard, and you will not find a single verse of Scripture that tells us to love ourselves. This passage of Matthew doesn’t teach that, nor does any other book of the Bible.

Want to know why?

Because man’s entire problem – the essence of what separates us from God – is that we already love ourselves too much. And the solution to that problem is to stop loving ourselves, die to self, kick self off the throne, and love Jesus supremely instead.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.
2 Timothy 3:1-8

Lots of people look at “love your neighbor as yourself” and think it means, “You can’t love your neighbor unless you first know how to love yourself.” Uh uh. That’s not what that verse means, and it’s a very self-centered, rather than Christ-centered, way to read it. Jesus – who knows the hearts of men, who said that those hearts are wicked and deceitful – would never tell us we need to love ourselves more. His point was that we are by nature already so self-centered, self-focused, and selfish that we need to put self aside and love and prioritize others that much instead.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Philippians 2:3-4

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23

“Love yourself” is the antithesis of the gospel.

As I said, this is a very brief quote, and I haven’t read the book, so I’m hoping what Karen is saying here is just an innocent vocabulary fumble or that, perhaps, I’ve misunderstood her point due to lack of context.

However, once I finished writing my answer, I did a quick Google search in hopes of finding out more about Karen and gaining some insight as to where she’s coming from. Unfortunately, I found out that Karen works for Proverbs 31 Ministries as a speaker, “the Speaker Track Director of the Proverbs 31 She Speaks Conference and a teaching staff member of their writers’ training site COMPEL.”

As you may already know, Proverbs 31 is the ministry of Lysa TerKeurst who is a false teacher¹. Because Scripture tells us that we’re not to partner with false teachers, because partnering with a false teacher demonstrates a lack of discernment and either disobedience to, or a failure to understand, Scripture, and because of what, at best, seems to be a misunderstanding of Scripture in the quote cited here, I would recommend that you not follow or receive teaching from Karen Ehman.

¹If you are considering commenting or sending me an e-mail objecting to the fact that I warn against false teachers, please click here and read this article first. Your objection is most likely answered here. I won’t be publishing comments or answering emails that are answered by this article.

If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or send me an e-mail or private message. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.

Suffering

True or False: Is Your Theology of Suffering Biblical?

June 9, 2017May 23, 2025 Michelle Lesley

Suffering can be a pretty heavy topic, so as Christian women, it’s important that we have some good tools in our theological toolboxes for understanding and handling suffering in a biblical way the next time it happens to us or someone we love. One thing that can help us to have a good theology of suffering is to understand some of the ways we, and others, might approach suffering in an unbiblical way.

A Proper Perspective of Suffering

Have you ever heard someone ask the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It seems like, when you’re sharing the gospel with somebody who’s a tough nut to crack, this is something they always bring up. “If your God is so good and so loving, why does He allow innocent children and nice people to suffer?” It’s actually such a common question that there’s an official name for it. This concept is called “The Problem of Evil,” or theodicy. And I’m sure lots of us have wondered about that, too.

The thing is, that question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” is flawed. R.C. Sproul Jr.¹ answers it this way: “Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once, and He volunteered.” The point is, bad things don’t happen to good people, because there are no good people except Jesus. None is righteous, no not one.

Maybe we should be asking why good things happen to bad people. God would be completely justified in sending every one of us to Hell, right here, right now, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. He does not owe us a blooming thing, and certainly not all the blessings He has been gracious enough to shower upon us- blessings we have been thankless enough to take for granted. We are beggars at the table of the King. To say, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” shows us just how entitled, arrogant, and oblivious to our sin we are.

I say all of that because we’re about to look at two different categories of suffering, and I want us to be mindful of our position before God so we don’t start off on the wrong foot thinking that we don’t deserve suffering. Instead we should be grateful to Him for blessing us and sparing us so much suffering- especially, as Christians, for sparing us an eternity of suffering.

Two Types of Suffering

When somebody says the word “suffering,” do any of the following types of negative scenarios come to mind?

Spending time in jail for committing a crime.

Your husband leaving you because you had an affair.

Grieving the loss of your child because you drove drunk with her in the car and got into an accident.

Losing your job because you were late to work every day.

My guess is that’s probably not the kind of thing that initially pops into your mind when you hear the word “suffering.” Why? What do all those scenarios have in common? They’re all a result of personal sin. You “deserve” for those things to happen to you, whereas you don’t “deserve” to spend time in jail for a crime you didn’t commit, or for your husband to leave you because he had an affair, or to lose your child to cancer, or to get laid off work because the company is struggling financially.

So there are two types of suffering: the type we “deserve”- something that’s a natural or logical consequence of our own sin, and the type we “don’t deserve”- something that’s due to someone else’s sin, or an “act of God,” or “just one of those things.” (And, please understand, when I say “deserve” or “don’t deserve”- that’s just shorthand for the way we perceive these two different kinds of suffering. We think we deserve or don’t deserve whatever is happening to us, but those words have very little to do with whether or not we actually deserve or don’t deserve what happens to us.)

We tend to understand suffering we feel is deserved. It may be just as painful as “undeserved” suffering, but it intuitively makes sense to us when we suffer the consequences of our own sin.

It’s that so-called undeserved suffering that we’re going to focus more on today that’s a lot harder, because in addition to the pain you’re going through, there’s always this sense of “Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?”

Because we have a lousy theology of suffering.

How? Let’s take a little quiz.

Pop Quiz: True or False Theology of Suffering?

Answer each of these questions “true” or “false,” then scroll down for the answers.

1. Scripture promises that if Christians walk obediently with the Lord, life will go well for us.

2. I’m suffering because God is punishing my parents for their sin, or God is punishing me for my parents’ sin.

3. I’m suffering because God is punishing me for my own sin.

4. I’m suffering because Satan is attacking me.

1. Scripture promises that if Christians walk obediently with the Lord,
life will go well for us.

False. That’s pretty much what the prosperity gospel (or Word of Faith heresy) teaches- if you just obey well enough, pray hard enough, have enough faith, believe hard enough, whatever enough, everything will go your way. You’ll always be healthy, God will prosper you financially, your wayward child will come back to the Lord, etc.

And it’s partially based on Scripture, but it’s based on out of context Mosaic covenant Scripture. The Mosaic covenant was kind of an if/then thing. God said: If you obey Me, I’ll bless you, your families, your fields, your flocks, your finances, your fighting men. If you disobey me, I’ll curse you in all of those areas. As New Testament Christians today, that’s not the covenant you and I have with God. Through Christ, we are under the covenant of grace. And Christ says,

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
2 Tim. 3:12-13

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:45

In the world you will have tribulation.
John 16:33

Anybody who tells you “Come to Jesus and He’ll give you a problem-free life,” is lying to you. You’re going to suffer in this life. Everyone suffers. It’s just a question of whether you’re going to suffer with Jesus or without Jesus.

2. I’m suffering because God is punishing my parents for their sin,
or God is punishing me for my parents’ sin.

False. Years ago, I knew a precious lady who was conceived via incest. She had a number of pretty serious chromosomal medical problems, she had been physically and sexually abused as a child, and, as if that weren’t enough, she’d had relatives tell her in some pretty cruel ways that she was God’s punishment to her parents for their sin.

Ladies, I know there are at least a few of you who have had some really sad and scary things happen to you at the hands of another person- maybe your parents or a boyfriend or your husband or possibly even an adult child. And I want you to hear me- God is not using you to punish or get back at someone else, and He’s not punishing you for their sin. God deals with each person individually about her own sin.

Ezekiel 18 is a fantastic passage that explains this very clearly. Verse 20 says:

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Now we do sometimes suffer as a result or consequence of someone’s sin. If a drunk driver hits your car and kills your child, you and your child have suffered as a result of that person’s sin, but that suffering isn’t God being punitive against anyone.

And, really, if you think about it, all suffering is the result of someone’s sin, whether it’s someone directly responsible for the suffering, like the drunk driver, or whether it goes all the way back to the sin of Adam and Eve with something like disease or a natural disaster that entered the world due to their sin. We suffer things like that simply because their sin causes us to live in a broken and fallen world.

3. I’m suffering because God is punishing me for my own sin.

False.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1

If you are a genuinely regenerated believer, Christ was punished for your sin, past, present, and future. He took the punishment for your sin so you wouldn’t have to.

But even if you’re not a believer, what is the penalty for sin? Romans 6:23 says,

For the wages of sin is death…

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9

If you are not a believer, the fact that you are still alive and walking around on this planet, no matter what kind of circumstances you may be going through at the moment, is God’s grace to you. Because the moment you draw your last breath is when the punishment for your sin begins.

Now, certainly, both saved and lost people can suffer as a direct consequence of their own sin, but the purpose of that suffering is not retributive. It’s not to punish.

4. I’m suffering because Satan is attacking me.

OK, that was kind of a trick question because the answer is: it doesn’t matter whether or not your suffering is caused by Satan because God is sovereign. Nothing happens outside His control. Let’s take a look at part of Job 1. (If you’re not familiar with Job, the quick back story here is that Job was very godly and very rich.)

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Job 1:6-12

Who was attacking Job here? Satan. Who allowed Satan to attack Job? God. Could Satan have attacked Job if God had told him he couldn’t? No. Does anything in this universe happen that God doesn’t have control over? No. Your heart won’t beat one more time, you won’t draw one more breath, you won’t think one more thought unless God permits it.

And the same is true with your suffering. Even if Satan is the one behind it, he can’t do a thing to you unless God allows him to. Martin Luther once put it this way: “Even the devil is God’s devil.”

And what’s more, you’ll never know for sure in this lifetime whether your suffering was caused by Satan or it was a gracious gift of God. Look back over that passage in Job. How do we know it was Satan causing Job’s suffering? Because God revealed it to us through Scripture. But where was Job when this conversation was taking place between God and Satan? He was down there working his farm and enjoying his family. He had no idea where this terrible suffering came from all of a sudden.

A lot of people these days seem to have the idea that if you’re suffering, it’s caused by Satan and if your life is going great, that’s God. But that’s not always true. Remember, it was the will of God to crush Jesus, and Jesus learned obedience by suffering. Sometimes that kind of thing is God’s will for us, too, and for good reasons. Even Job saw that:

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job 1:21

Job knew that whatever came his way was because God allowed it, and that God had good reasons for it.

So if those are not reasons for suffering, why does God cause or allow suffering to come into our lives? Check out God’s Good Purposes in Suffering.

¹I’m aware that R.C. Sproul, Jr., in the last couple of years, has committed sins which led to his stepping down from ministry. I have included his name here for quote attribution purposes only.

Mark Bible Study

Mark: Lesson 6

June 7, 2017April 4, 2019 Michelle Lesley

Previous Lessons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Mark 4:

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. ²And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: ³“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.⁵Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. ⁶And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. ⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.⁸And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” ⁹And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

¹⁰And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, ¹²so that

“‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’”

¹³And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴The sower sows the word. ¹⁵And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. ¹⁶And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. ¹⁸And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, ¹⁹but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²⁰But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

²¹And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? ²²For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. ²³If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. ²⁵For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

²⁶And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. ²⁸The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

³⁰And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³²yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. ³⁴He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Questions to Consider

1. Briefly skim back over Mark 1-3, noticing major events and themes and what these events and themes tell Mark’s gentile audience, and us, about who Christ is. What is the theme, or main point, of chapter 4? What does it tell us about the nature and character of Christ?

2. What is the main activity Jesus is engaged in (sleeping, praying, teaching, preaching, healing, eating, etc.) in verses 1-34? In verses 35-40? In one sentence, summarize the central truth Jesus was teaching in verses 1-20, 21-25, 26-29, 30-34, and 35-41. What is the difference between the way Jesus taught in verses 1-34 and the way He taught in verses 35-41?

3. What is a parable? How many times is the word “parable” used in chapter 4? Examine verses 10-12, 24-25, and 33-34. What did Jesus say about why He taught in parables? Look at these verses through the lens of verses 14-20. What is the difference between the ability of the “good soil” hearers to understand the parables and the ability of the “bad soil” hearers to understand them? (11-12) What do verses 9 and 23 mean? Is Jesus talking about literal, physical hearing or understanding and accepting? Why did Jesus make absolutely certain (34) His disciples clearly understood the explanations of the parables?

4. In your Bible, find and examine the cross-reference(s) for verse 12. Would “those around Him with the twelve” (10) have been familiar with the Old Testament passage Jesus was quoting? What was happening in Israel at the time these Old Testament passages were written? Knowing the history of Israel, what would Jesus’ disciples have inferred that Jesus was saying about the spiritual condition of those who would dismiss and fail to understand the meaning of His parables?

5. There are four parables in this chapter. How many of them revolve around seeds? What does Jesus say the seed represents in each of these parables? (14, 25, 30) What other passages teach spiritual truths through the illustration of seeds? Why might Jesus have chosen agricultural parables when teaching the people?

6. Why might Jesus have wanted to leave (35-36) the already assembled crowd? What do verses 35-41 teach us about Jesus’ authority over creation? What would this authority have demonstrated to His followers, and Mark’s gentile audience, about Jesus’ equality with God? Compare Jesus’ initial reaction to the storm (38) with the disciples’ initial reaction (38,40)? What does the question, “do you not care,” (38) reveal about the disciples’ faith, their understanding of Jesus’ love for them, and their understanding of Jesus’ earthly mission? How did Jesus use this incident as a “teaching moment”?

7. How do each of these parables and the calming of the storm fit with, undergird, and flesh out Jesus’ “mission statement” in Mark 1:15: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”?

Homework

In Mark 4, we see Jesus teaching in two different ways: formal teaching through instruction and parables (1-34) and taking advantage of a teachable moment (35-41).

Not all of us are called to formal teaching, but we all have moments during our daily lives when we can seize circumstances and harness them into an opportunities to share the gospel with a co-worker, apply Scripture to a situation with our children, or model Christlikeness to the watching eyes of strangers.

Think back over the last week. Was there a situation you could have used as a “teaching moment” with someone? Reflect on how you might do things similarly or differently if that situation arises again, and ask God to help you be on the lookout for more teaching moments this week.

Suggested Memory Verse

And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Mark 4:41

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Advertising Redux

June 6, 2017December 16, 2018 Michelle Lesley

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In the past (without alerting me or giving me any remuneration), WordPress has run ads on my more heavily trafficked articles. In the last seven years (since 2011, when I joined WordPress) I’ve received only three or four reports of an ad being biblically inappropriate. Last week I received one more report. So, I thought I would rerun the article that follows (originally published July 26, 2015, and updated) to provide a little more insight as to how this all works. Should you need to review this information in the future, there is a link to this article under the “Welcome- Start Here” tab at the top of this page.

Thanks so much to those of you who have alerted me that inappropriate ads (containing material that conflicts with biblical values) occasionally appear on my site.

Normally, the ads that run are family friendly, but a few times, readers have reported seeing ads that are inappropriate. I want to assure you that I do not select these ads, nor am I given an opportunity to approve or reject them.

I have contacted WordPress about the ads. This is the response they sent me:

“We endeavor to make sure that no inappropriate ads are shown, but occasionally some do make it through. If you or any of your visitors see inappropriate ads, we ask that you (or they) take a screenshot of the ad and forward it to us at wordads@wordpress.com.”

Since I don’t always see the same ads on my end that you see on yours, I would be most grateful if you would alert WordPress in this way should you ever see an ad that’s inappropriate (you can also click on the “About These Ads” link above the ad itself). Sending polite feedback to WordPress – which, to their credit, they have requested – is the best way to get them to keep their advertising appropriate for all of their sites, not just mine.

Additionally, one of my Facebook friends offered this advice:

“Often if people are using Facebook apps or 3rd party apps, such as are used for games, those kinds of ads show up. Different ads for different users. Google is able to customize the ads based on Internet activity. When I blocked 3rd party cookies and all apps, the questionable ads on my feed and Internet activity disappeared.”

Also, if you are bothered by ads on the sites you visit (not just mine), your browser may offer a free ad blocker that will reduce or eliminate them. I use Google Chrome as my browser, and installed uBlock Origin a while back. It has been very helpful.

I apologize for any inappropriate ads you have seen in the past or may see in the future. It is my desire that my blog glorify God and be a place where biblical values are upheld.