acts 20. the gathering at miletusedgemontscripturestudy.com/00 acts of the apostles series... ·...

Transcript of Classes on The Acts of the Apostles by John W. Welch, Sept 2010 to Dec 2010

Acts 20, 1 Timothy, and Titus

Report on the Conference of the London Temple Studies Group

The main reason I went was to present a paper at the Temple Church, which is the old Knights Templar Church. I will mention a couple of things because one of the one of texts I focused on was in 1 Timothy, and we will get to that in a few minutes. It was an interesting experience. The whole conference was on seeing Eden, the Garden of Eden as a sacred place, and therefore, as a temple, and looking at all of the different temple imagery. This was a conference put together by people who do a lot with temple studies, but they have no idea how important the creation account, Adam and Eve, and the whole story of the fall of Adam and Eve that sets up the need for the atonement, is to us in our temples. However, they have picked up many details and developed them in the papers in some ways that were very interesting.

One of the papers dealt a lot with how Adam should be understood as a priest. There is a strong Jewish tradition that Adam must have been a high priest, some texts have been discovered (these are texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls) relating that as soon as Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, the first thing Adam does is build an altar and make sacrifices. That is not in the Bible. It is in the Book of Moses, but this text that I am talking about was not discovered until 1947. Based on that information, there was a lot of talk about how Adam must have had the priesthood, and all the implications that follow from that. The Garden of Eden, after all, was a sacred place; God could walk and talk in that garden, and the terminology that is used in Genesis for that is only found in places in the Old Testament in which it talks about God being present in and walking in the tabernacle or in the temple. So lots of little details like that were fun to hear and fun to be a part of.

(Student) What was your paper on?

Adam in the New Testament. I was assigned a topic, and I was to talk about Adam in the New Testament. One of the texts that I had to deal with was seeing Adam as the first man, and in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul talks about Jesus being the last Adam, or the second man. This was just one part of the paper. Here is a stained glass window from Leon, France and it is called, “The two Adams window,” and it is a circle with 12 vignettes on it and coming down this side you have scenes from the life of Adam and Eve, and coming down this side you have scenes from the life of Jesus and how they coordinate. They line up so the first one is the creation of Adam and that lines up with the annunciation where the Holy Spirit overshadows Mary. Just as in Adam’s case, the Holy Spirit or the spirit of life is breathed into Adam so the conception of Christ through the Holy Spirit is used as a parallel. In the bringing of Eve out of the body of Adam; you have a woman coming out of man, and the parallel for that is the birth of Jesus out of Mary. Both relate of man coming out of woman. By the way, the word for side, when it talks about coming out of the rib or the side, it really just says the side. It is an unusual word, that is used when the disciples thrust their hand into the side of Jesus, which is viewed as an allusion back to the way in which Eve was created out of the side of Adam, just as the faith of the disciples is created by their hands being put into the side of Christ. Anyway, little verbal echoes like that.

(Student) When were those done?

These are 13th Century.

Acts 20, 1 Timothy and Titus, 11 Nov. 2010 (file 101111)

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(Student) Symbolism is very important …unity between human beings …

That is right, and when it says they shall be one flesh, the word flesh also can mean family or kin, which implies that they shall leave father and mother and become now a new family unit.

Discussion on the Marriage of Adam and Eve. There was also a lot of talk about the marriage of Adam and Eve at the conference, and in what way that might have to do with something sacred. Of course, for us eternal marriage belongs in the temple, so here are these Protestant and Catholic scholars wondering. It was interesting to watch the Catholic scholars wonder about how marriage could be so important as to be a part of a sacred setting. A celibate deacon was wondering about this— a good friend of mine too. Another interesting part of my paper was to talk about how, in the New Testament, Paul emphasizes that the man is “not without the woman, nor the woman without the man” in the Lord. When Paul talks about man, and when God creates Adam, it says man [meaning mankind] was created in the image of God. This word man refers to Adam, to mankind, so we know that Adam was not without Eve in the Lord, and Eve was not without Adam in the Lord.

That then raises the question, what about the high priest? If Adam is a high priest, does he have to have a wife? The answer to that is “yes” under Jewish law. The high priest had to be married. How was the high priesthood handed down? By lineage. So the high priest was obligated to have children. Thus, one of the Jewish texts, a Talmudic text, says that they were concerned that the high priest had to be married, since Leviticus says that he should atone for the sins of himself, he has to purge himself so that he is pure, and also for his household. They said, “How can he atone for the sins of his household if he does not have a household, and therefore, if he is not a whole man he cannot perform the unification of the atonement. So they went so far as to have a woman standing by at all times, so that if the wife of the high priest were to die, the standby would be ready to step in and be married to him, so there would never be a day when he would officiate in the temple and not be married.

So the importance of marriage goes back into the story of Adam and Eve, and the covenant relationship that is there when God marries Adam and Eve, as Jesus says in Matthew 19, “What God has put together, let no man put asunder.” All of these topics were interesting points of discussion in this meeting.

(Student) So if Christ is considered the great high priest, then would they assume that he was also married?

The assumption is that he was either married or espoused to be married. At a minimum, in the New Testament. we have everything leading up in the millennial day to the wedding supper of the Lamb, so that the fulfillment of the need for him to be married, if it was not completely done while he was in his mortal ministry, it certainly will be eternally.

(Student) Was there any contention? You are saying the different points of view, was it like a forum or was it more like a debate or how…

No, it was more like just one person standing up and talking. Questions at the end, but it was not a debate or anything of that nature.

(Student) Who sponsored it?


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It was sponsored by the London Temple Studies Group, a group of British scholars who get together twice a year to talk about the importance of the temple in understanding the Bible and Christian traditions. Some of them are very concerned about the way religion has become so secularized that even rock music is involved. All of the sacredness, the sense of piety, worship and even the liturgy, and all of the old high church Anglican celebration of the sacrament, seem to have fallen out of favor. It is being diminished even in the Catholic world too, and these people see the temple, and the importance of the temple in the scriptures, as a way of bringing a greater sense of devotion, reverence, spirituality back into the life of their churches today.

(Student) Do they recognize our temples?

They do, they do. This is the fourth year that this group has met and the first year they did not have a Latter-day Saint, but the second year they did; the third year they did, then this year they invited me. I have turned them down before because this a hard time of the year to get away. How can I leave you and go off, and school has so much going on. When they set the date for this one as November 6, and at first I said, “No, I do not think I can do that,” but then my daughter Allison called back in April to say that she was expecting on October 24. I reconsidered, thinking, “Well, I will go to your conference but you are not the reason I am coming.”

(Student) Is Margaret Barker part of this?

Margaret is a big part of this group. Yes, and she presented a paper. Hers was the opening paper in the conference.

(Student) Do you have copies of your paper?

I have hers, and I could forward that to you if you would be interested. I have not finished formalizing mine yet, but I will send you mine when it is done.

(Student) … publish later …. send out to people sooner?

They now have enough papers from the four years that they are now trying to put together a volume so we will see if a book comes out of it. But these things take a long, long time.

Acts 20. The Gathering at Miletus

Let us dive into the material for today, and I hope you have enjoyed reading the material that we have for tonight. But let us begin with Acts chapter 20, and just pick up a couple of quick points and then see what you learned or thought about Paul’s farewell words to these people that he had spent nearly 3 years with. Let us look at chapter 20 verse 4. They sail from Philippi to Mitylene. As you are coming down the coast of Turkey you can see that Island right off the coast.

How many people are traveling with Paul? There were at least seven people there. One of them is Timothy. Timothy had been the courier that carried the letter from Corinth up to Thessalonica. Paul will now leave Timothy in charge of things in Ephesus and in this whole area, as he goes off to Jerusalem not knowing really, why the Lord is taking him there, except that he knows that he has to find a way to preach the gospel to all the world.

(Br Kappas) The Greek is Timothaeus.


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It means “One who honors God.”

(Student) In verse 5 there is a first person reference for us….this is the first time we have a first person … so is this where Luke joins?

That is where Luke is present. At least, that is what people think.

My guess is that Paul has brought all of these people together for a regional conference. They have probably been out proselytizing in different cities, and he is gathering this entourage as they come down for this big, final meeting in Miletus. They have probably come from up from Rhodes, and over from Samos, and down from Sardis, and wherever Paul has been. He seems to have brought them all together. Why Miletus? I am not sure except that there is a very large river, relatively large for this area, called the Meander River. Guess what it does! It meanders its way down through that area, and so it may just have been a convenient point of access for them, but as I said before, Paul skips Ephesus. Possibly he is in a little bit of a hurry; we do not know why but the conference is held there in Miletus.

Passover is Still Important. What else do we spot here? In verse 6, when they left, they sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread. What is that? It is Passover. Isn’t that interesting; they are still observing the Jewish rules of Passover. I am sure that the Passover has now taken on all of the additional features of celebrating the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus, as they clearly now see the way in which he was the Lamb of God and the sacrificial lamb. Nevertheless, they do not call it Easter. They are still calling it the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. This is only 20 years, 22 or 23 years after the crucifixion. So a lot of those old ways of worshipping were still being sorted out as to which ones would continue and which ones would be no longer necessary.

First Day of the Week. Then in verse 7, it is the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread. The first day of the week was Sunday, so they are not observing the ordinance of the sacrament on the Jewish Sabbath. The Sabbath is Saturday, so here we have evidence that the Christians have switched to celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, and the day of his resurrection, on Sunday, rather than the old day. The Seventh Day Adventists, of course, do not agree with that but thank goodness we have revelation that helps us know which day is appropriate.

Paul Talks for a Long Time in Troas. Then we have this great story about Paul in Troas— how long does he talk?

(Student) Until the break of day …

That is right. This poor guy falls out of the window at midnight, and they think he is dead. Paul says, “Do not worry, his life is still in him.” The poor guy is comatose, but Paul keeps talking until the sun comes up, and then they finally go take care of this guy and he is fine.

Paul Walks to Mitylene.Then they sail on down to a little town called Assos. Beautiful little harbor there, and Paul then decides that he is going to walk. Why might he have decided to walk? He goes all the way down to Mitylene.

(Student) He was trying to avoid those Jews that kept looking for him.


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He could be. He gets back on a ship and goes to Samos, and finally all the way over to Miletus. Though, for a spell there, he decides that he would rather spend a little time walking through the countryside. Maybe he is knocking on doors. He says, “I have preached the gospel house to house.” Maybe this was an area where he had not been before. Maybe he was seasick. Maybe he knows this is his last chance to walk through the land that he loves. I think Paul is very, very committed to and loves the people that he is worked with. You can feel that in the passion that he has for them as he says goodbye. How do you say goodbye to a place that you have spent 3 years working in? Walking and just enjoying the beauties of the area. I can see Paul doing that.

(Student) He could be pondering as he walked, and singing … went to mountains in preparation for the magnificent teachings that he was going to give….

Paul Knows this is a Final Goodbye. Look at verse 22. He knew that he was calling them all so he could say goodbye, and that they would never see his face again. He has a spirit of prophecy; he knows that he is not going to be back. He does not quite know what will happen in Jerusalem. He says, “I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there.” Yet he knows he must go. At some point, and we will talk about this after Thanksgiving, he decides that he needs to go into the temple in Jerusalem where he knows that he is going to be arrested. He also knows that, as a Roman citizen, if the Jews try to do anything to him, he can take refuge by appealing to the Roman officials, who will have to give him protection. Then if the case will not be dismissed, he will have a right to appeal to Rome and to appear before the Roman Emperor who at that time was Nero. Nero has not yet gone ballistic against the Jews and the Christians, but I think at the time Paul saw this as a way of getting an audience with the emperor. It sounded like a good idea. After all, if you could convert the emperor…and that will, of course, happen 300 years later when Constantine becomes a Christian.

Paul was not timid and he had been before every governor; he had been in all these capital cities; he had spoken to senators, why not the emperor himself? That could be what he was wondering as he ponders, “Can I pull this off?’ Or, will this cost me my life?” Yes, a very bold move.

Conference of the Elders.

Let us start with verse 17 where he brings the elders together. This is a priesthood conference, and we will see in 1 Timothy and the materials we will be looking at in a few minutes, how important the priesthood organization of the church was. Paul is a master of organizational structure of the church. We saw back in Ephesians where he talks about, he gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors, some teachers, some evangelists, and so forth. All of these offices have their function. Paul is the one who has been putting these offices into place, giving people responsibilities. He calls a priesthood conference to be sure that the leadership of the church is sound, so that as he leaves them, they will be in good hands.

The Term Evangelist. By the way, the word evangelist has puzzled some people. What does it mean when it says he gave some evangelists. Joseph Smith gave us a definition for that. Anyone know? A patriarch, exactly. That means a patriarch. When we have presented this idea to other Christians, they say, “Wait a minute; that is not how we understand it.” To them, evangelizing is more about missionary work and proselytizing. We have the four evangelists. Who are they? The four gospel writers, because the gospels are called the evangelion, the evangelist books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. So we have a little bit of a challenge saying they are


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patriarchs.” In the list, apostles, prophets, pastors and so on, you would think all those other functions would cover missionary work. However, a tomb was found right in this area, on the Island of Samos, that comes right from the time of Paul. The inscription on it says that it was dedicated to a man who had died, and he had been a priest of Apollo, and that if people wanted to come to him, he was very well-known for giving personal blessings and personal revelations and he was called an evangelist of Apollo. We actually now have the use of the Greek word the way Joseph Smith said we should understand that. I thought that was good.

Conference of the Elders continued.

What did you see as you read Paul’s words that jumped out at you? Lots of instructions.

(Student) … instructions …. Lehi said, “I taught you everything … I have shown you everything I can possibly… I have tried to prepare you…

Pure of the Blood of all Men. Does he say that he has taught them everything? Look at what he says, “I have given you all that is profitable for you.” There may still be things that these relatively new members of the church have not learned yet, but Paul has given them all that he could up to this point. In verse 26, it ties in with what you are saying, “Wherefore, I take you to record this day.” Remember we have talked about Paul being really interested in legal things. We have seen him in court repeatedly. What he is doing now, “I take you to record this day,” he is making them legal witnesses of the fact that, “I am pure from the blood of all men.” What does that mean?

(Student) What did they do in the purification rites of seven days.?

They washed but it was more just a waiting period as well. To be pure, to be clean or pure from the blood of all men? This is similar to what Alma and Nephi say when they talk about having taught their people. They have led them appropriately and their garments are free from their blood.

He is free from the blood and sins of this generation and any guilt for not having taught. What does that tell you about your responsibilities as a priesthood holder or as a leader in the church? If you do not declare the counsel of God, if you do not discharge your duties -

(Student) You are responsible for your own home, our families, and our children.

Do we have a scripture that supports that?

(Student) The Proclamation on the Family.

That and in the Doctrine and Covenants if parents do not teach their children, you all know the lines. “The sins be upon the head of the parents.” That is exactly right.

(Student) I have always thought … little bit of a type of what the Savior did, fulfilling his stewardship … give us the opportunity to be cleansed … and cleaning his garments by doing that and in our own small way, we have the same kind of obligation to help other people achieve that as far as we can and so it is the little bit the same. We do not have the responsibility for what happens to the people if we have done all we can.

When we do all we can. How much had Paul done? Look at verse 19. “I have been with you for all seasons serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations


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which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews,” and he talks about the kind of efforts he is gone to.

(Student) Then in verse 28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God….”

The Coming Apostasy. Very good. What did you think about that, we use this as a prophecy of the coming apostasy, right? One of the clearest statements. Paul must be especially grieved. Here he feels like he must leave, but he knows that when he leaves there will be trouble. Take heed, he says in verse 29, “for I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.” How will it happen? It is going to be an inside job, right? It will happen as people join the church but then teach false doctrine. Paul is always so concerned about maintaining the purity of the doctrine, and in 1Timothy, in that entire first chapter, he just rails against people who have been teaching the darndest things. When you have a young church, a new religious movement like this, you are really vulnerable to this problem, and Paul saw it coming; he probably knew some of these people and their tendencies, and sure enough, it happened.

We Have Handbooks and Leadership Conferences (Student) There are parallels here that we can see with the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Apostles were falling away and going into apostasy …

Yes, and worse than that, even the John C. Bennetts and William Laws. Bad, bad stuff.

(Student) There is common ground here that we can understand.

Once again, what happened there happened again in this dispensation didn’t it?

(Student) The leadership made many mistakes.

(Student) I lived in many places around the country where the church was very weak in some places. What we found is that when there is nobody there to check on them, things change all the time because people just do what they want and what they are used to.

Fortunately, today, we have a good network of leadership. We have handbooks of instruction.

(Student) …the World Wide Leadership that we are having this Saturday….

That is right and a new handbook coming out. The announcement about that Leadership Meeting was a big event in London. They had letters from their stake presidents that were read telling them the importance of getting this new handbook, how everyone has to be there to hear it, and then stressing that this handbook does not belong to you, that when you are released you need to give it to the next person. They would not have known that otherwise. In the ward that my daughter is in, they have been involved very heavily in missionary work, and this little ward is so proud of what they are doing. They have had 22 baptisms in this one ward this year. These new people do not know what a Handbook of Instructions is. They have to tell them, but they were all really excited about what is coming up and how they can be a part of it. Paul’s world did not have that did they?


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Watch and Remember. What does Paul tell them to do toward the end of this? We know the problems, we know the sacrifices, and we know how Paul has been in bonds and afflictions. He knows that he is determined to finish his course. He is talking there about running the race. By the way, they did not run a marathon; that is a modern invention. One man ran the marathon and died, so they did not repeat that as sport, but they did of course do a lot of - they had stadiums for running and a lot of racing. So Paul wants to be sure he finishes that course, endures to the end and therefore, starting in verse 31, what is the advice that he gives to them? “Watch.” What does that tell you? What does it mean to watch? Be careful, watch out, and be cautious and observant. Watch! Remember! This is only a summary of things that he talked about. I suppose he could have spoken for half an hour about the importance of remembering. You know it is interesting to me that when we partake of the sacrament, in the prayer on the water, there is only one thing we promise, right? Remember him always. Remember.

(Student) We know now that he spoke all day and night.

We have no idea what he said on the day and the night but Paul tended to be long-winded so you just have to start filling in here. Perhaps a whole hour on watching, and a whole hour on remembering. For three years he did not stop. “I warned everyone day and night with tears. So remember what I have taught you. Remember those words.”

He commends them to God. Then he says, “I commend you to God.” That was an interesting statement. What is happening there? He is blessing them. Do priesthood leaders commend their people to God? What does it mean to commend you to God? We do get apostolic blessings.

(Student) I just felt like I received a blessing and I was commended to God by them because they are representing God.

That is right and they are there as people who will judge us all, and if they recommend us, if they commend us to God,

(Student) They do not do it always.

(Student) At this point I think he is also saying you are commendable and there is the voice of warning here that in three years, that might not be the case.

(Student) He has been teaching them for years …

That is right. In verse 31 he says, “I have taught you for 3 years, I want you to remember what I have taught you.” Thinking of building righteous homes, does this commending feature operate in our homes as well? Can we commend our own children to God? Should we be doing that?

Maybe it is like the Bishop giving them a recommend here, right? A temple recommend as well as commending.

(Student) I just looked in the bible dictionary and it said, “See also commit.”

Commend, “I will put you into the safekeeping of God.” That is a good one and something that anyone in a leadership position can do, to promise the security and blessings of God to those that they have under their stewardship.

(Student) I think because he knows he is not going to see them again, he is saying, God, will you take care of them (story of leaving granddaughter, teaching her how to pray)


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We can relate to Paul here. That is a very good insight.

(Student) He lets them know how important it is that he is leaving them in God’s hands.

Paul was a Lay Minister. That is a good point too. Going on; other principles that he emphasizes. In verse 33 we read, “I have coveted no man’s silver or gold or apparel and you can see my own hands, they have ministered unto my necessities and unto them that are with me.” As a leader, he has not required them to support him. We have talked before in this class about the importance of having a lay ministry, a ministry that is not supported by money or by contributions of the people that they are serving. In other words, we do not have a professional clergy in our church, and I do not think Paul would have wanted one in his either.

(Student) So how did they read their scriptures? How would they interpret it? That is what the professional clergy did then, when times were different? How would they rationalize?

How else can you do it? It is unimaginable that it would be any other way. I went down to California a couple of years ago, and was asked to speak to a group of Baptists about Mormon principles of leadership, and I came up with a list of ten, of course. You know me, these are the ten principles of Mormon leadership, and right at the top of the list was lay leadership. I was talking to people who are all professional ministers and I used scriptures like this to explain the importance of it. They did not try to explain it away or justify it, they just said, “There is no way it would work in our church.” I do not know whether they were saying, “We do not have the faith,” or “we just do not have that tradition in the way it is set up,” but they looked at what I was telling them with great envy. Maybe they were coveting it, I do not know. They said, “Well who does all the work?” I said, “Everybody does the work. If everyone does a little you do not have to have one person who is bearing the whole load.” They said, “Well how do you get that to work?” I said, “Well, we have callings, we have people set apart, we have home teachers, we have visiting teachers.

(Student) Testimony.

We talked about that too.

(Student) We are asked, we are involved, and we are dedicated. It is what keeps the church together because we have to be that way.

(Student) We are different from the get-go, because Joseph Smith said religion must require the sacrifice of all things …

Yes. This is a day of sacrifice, the Doctrine and Covenants says, and will be until the coming of the Son of Man and when…, look in verse 35, Paul teaches this same principle, right? He even cites the Lord on this point, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

(Student) That was my mother is favorite saying. We would go to the Veterans Hospital and we would help them, and she said, “Remember, it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Where is that quote?

He says, in verse 35, “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.” This is the only place we have that. If Paul had not used it we would not know that Jesus had said that.


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(Student) Everything can be likened to the family, how you raise your children, how you treat them, how you teach them to work and to give and how you must be as the corporate leader. You have to do every job that you expect them to do and you have to be willing to do everything for someone else to do it.

(Student) Paul went out without purse or scrip just as our early missionaries did. Even now, they go and they do not have that much money. There are ways that he was supported.

That is right but this handout that is coming out, if you have got your Charting the New Testament Book, you will not need this, but I thought some of you might not have carried your book with you tonight…

Paul’s Wealthy Background

Let me say something about Paul going out without purse or scrip. I have not made a big point of this, but I have written a paper about Paul’s financial status, so to speak. Most of the interpretations of Paul have been written over the years by people who themselves were celibate priests that had taken vows of poverty, and they wanted to create a Paul in their own image. Thus, these sort of biographies of Paul, and we have got a lot of biographical information in Acts and in his letters, say, “Well he was a tent-maker so he is a manual laborer.” As a tent maker, this must be the least of all the professions because all you need to be a tent-maker is a needle. So you do not have land, and you do not have pottery wheels, no equipment, no animals, so the assumption is that Paul was a very, very poor person. I do not see that at all in what we have been learning.

(Student) Heck of an education for a poor guy.

Yes. He is sent from Tarsus— his parents have enough money to send him to Jerusalem away from home. How unusual is this? He gets to study under Gamaliel, the most prestigious legal authority in the Sanhedrin. He is getting the Harvard Law School of his day education. As a young man, he was entrusted by the Sanhedrin with the responsibility of arresting Christians. How unusual is that? You do not just do this to some peasant boy. Everywhere we go we have talked about him going to capital cities, hobnobbing with the aristocrats, converting people like Erastus, the wealthiest man in Corinth who, you remember, paved all of that area around the theater. Traveling around, and he says, “I have taken care of all those who were with me and we saw…” I made the point that he has a big group with him. At this time in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, we think that it is generous to assume that two percent of the population were Roman citizens. It is a very unusual, rare privilege, and we only know of one other Jewish family that had Roman citizenship, and they were a Jewish family that lived in Alexandria, Egypt that controlled the tax collection for the Romans for all of the land of Egypt. They got a percentage of whatever they collected. They were so phenomenally wealthy, that the one family, one year donated to the temple in Jerusalem two solid gold doors twelve feet high. We are talking big money. Paul is not in that league, quite, but Paul probably began with lots of influence.

Paul’s Use of Metaphors I asked you to look as we were reading Acts 20 at the metaphors that Paul uses, and he uses a lot of them here and throughout his writings. In your charting book there is a long, ten-page chart with some colored pictures that show scenes from the world that Paul lived in and how he uses metaphors and images of warfare, soldiering, manufacturing, marketing, lots from the legal world, city life, family life and so on. Like when he says, “I will


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finish the course.” All of these aspects of life that Paul is so familiar with, are kinds of things that a wealthy person who is involved with commerce, society, and government would know. There is a lot that makes me feel like he is probably a fairly well bred person. Whether he had any of that money left by the time he is going back to Jerusalem, I do not know. My guess is that whatever he inherited, if anything— he may have been disowned by his family—he has given it all. It makes me even more impressed with the dedication of this man that he is not just standing up there talking to these leaders and saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” He has given and given and given.

That was, I think, another part about how when he says, “I want everyone to give and I am not going to take a penny from any of you for my leadership in the church. I do not covet their gold and silver and clothes.” You have to read into this a man who once probably had a lot of that, and now is not looking back saying, “I wish I had that.” He is glad he was given all of that.

I Timothy

Let us look now at 1 Timothy. I have handed out to you this chart. We will refer to it as we come to a few of these verses. Do any of you have any questions you wanted to raise about things that you ran across in reading 1 Timothy?

(Student) The two letters seemed similar to me. I felt like I was kind of reading a condensed second …

That is right. Titus is just kind of a shorter version. Both Timothy and Titus were missionary companions of Paul and they are now set up as bishops or local leaders. Paul is writing to them about how to run the church, how to conduct meetings, how to have officers, what the elders are to do, what the women are to do, and what the widows are to do. It his handbook of instructions.

By the way, I suggested that people should write to me questions that we could pool and I want you to know that I did get one.

The Question of Widows. (Student) Did anyone feel the kind of confusion that I felt over all the instructions on widows?

Obviously, there was a question, “What do you do if you have a young wife whose husband dies, should the branch of the church now take responsibility for that woman?” There are two different traditions at work here. One is the Jewish tradition where if you have a widow, one of her close relatives needs to marry her and take care of her. They are not necessarily going to follow that rule in the Christian world because that is the Law of Moses. Under the Law of Solon, which goes way back to the 5th Century B.C., in the Greek world, it is the city, the Archon, the leader of the city who has the responsibility for taking care of the widows. So it is a natural question. Who is going to take care of the widows and the orphans? In fact, Paul has said in Acts 20, you must take care of the weak people. I think he is saying, “Okay, if we have old widows who cannot take care of themselves, fine. We will see that they are taken care of as long as they are willing to teach the young women and serve in the church. We have a welfare principle established there don’t we? But the younger women, he says, “Let them marry again and if they are able to do that, that is going to be a better solution.” Is that confusing to you?

(Student) Mary, the mother of Jesus, when John took care of her until she died.


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And she is an older widow too - a little bit older.

(Student) Jesus was the oldest child and he was 34. Of course, she would have been old by those standards.

So she was at least 50 or thereabouts.

(Student) I was surprised at the age that they gave. It contrasts so dramatically. I was reading about widowhood in India. I have read about widows in several cultures, and in India for so many years, they were abandoned no matter how old they were. If they were 15 and a widow, that was the end of their lives.

(Student) … or they killed them.

(Student) They did that too, and this is such a beautiful contrast to what really went on in the world at the time or even much later.

(Student) The Greek widows have relatives; they have a brother, a father, mother who will take care of them. In Greece, I know a group of families or brothers and sisters — my grandmother’s husband died when my father was 6 years old. He was taken care of by his brother. They will take care of them.

Excommunication for Blasphemy. (Student) I would like to go back to 1 Tim. 1:20, where it is damning these two to hell and we do not really know them, do we? Or do we?

1 Tim. 1:20, I mentioned, in this first chapter, there are already these grievous wolves that have entered in and they are teaching all kinds of strange things, and you have to read between the lines to figure out what they might have been teaching. One of the things they may have been teaching is that we do not have to obey the law.

(Student) Were they followers of his prior to this?

Probably not. They may have been. Paul found many people who had been baptized under the baptism of John the Baptist but not given the Holy Ghost so there are people around who are not fully a part of this community.

(Student) Does “delivered unto Satan” mean that he excommunicated them?

I think so. He hopes that they will learn not to blaspheme and if they will learn that, I suppose he would be happy to have them back, but in the meantime, you cannot have people doing that and damaging the church.

(Student) If it is the same person, in 2 Timothy, he has been going around teaching that the resurrection is over already.

We will not look at 2 Timothy until the second time we meet in December, but the apostasy is in full stride by the time we get to 2 Timothy.

(Student) … about women (interference)

Let us look at what Paul says about women. Let us go to chapter 2 verse 9.

Quotable and Insightful Gems. Before we get to that, some wonderful gems have been dropped into the instruction. It is not just a mechanical handbook of instruction, but there is a lot of


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inspiration and explanation for the reason behind the practices. For example, back in chapter 1 verse 15, this is a faithful saying, that, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.” That is a very famous line.

In chapter 2 verse 2, he asked them to give prayers, supplications, and intercessions, giving thanks for kings and for all of those who are in authority. Pray for the government. Our own church leaders have told us that one of the best things you can do to build a sense of patriotism, besides celebrating Veterans Day, is to pray in your families for the leaders of our land, that we may enjoy peace and have the kind of protections that we need. Paul asks for that.

Notice in verse 8, “I will, therefore, that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands. What is that all about? Any thoughts on that? When we pray, how do we pray? Fold our arms. Why? Why do we fold our arms? Where did that come from? Some people pray like this. This is more the Catholic, putting your hands together.

(Student) … reverent thing— fold your arms.

Maybe. There are symbols in these modes of prayer, and it may be that when we fold our arms, the one thing we are saying to ourselves and to God, “I cannot do anything of myself. My hands are tied. I need you to act, and so I will fold my arms in recognition of that.” But the early Christians did not fold their arms when they prayed. In fact, we know from some other things, that they prayed with upraised arms. They would pray either like this [arms vertical] or sometimes like this [arms horizontal], but the position is described in some of their texts and the scholars call it the cruciform position if it is like this, but they would put themselves into the position that Christ was on the cross and take upon themselves then, the cross of Christ. In other words recognizing that as they pray they are thinking of Christ and his suffering and relying upon him to get us saved from our mortal condition and so on.

Sometimes they also thought of the cross as a beam, and that the hands were put on a single spot like this and so they would pray with both hands above their heads or raising their hands. Anyway, that is probably what Paul is talking about here, lifting your hands up in prayer and lifting your hands up to God. When Solomon dedicated the Temple of Solomon in 1 Kings, he offered the dedicatory prayer with hands raised up to heaven. So the Christians continue to use that form of prayer. But that is verse 8. Then verse 9 is when we get to the women.

About Women. “In like manner also that the women adorn themselves with modest apparel,” that is pretty clear, “with shamefacedness.” What, on earth, does that mean? Are women all supposed to walk around with their faces dour and ashamed of who they are?

(Student) It is just modesty or reverence.

Yes. It has a very different meaning. On the back of the chart, here in the middle, you have 1 Timothy 2:9, you see that in the middle? Women are to avoid costly hairstyles and apparel. Peter had said the same thing in 1 Peter. Dress modestly and in good taste. Sobriety is the Greek word sophrosynē, which does not mean sober, it just means in good taste or wisely. Then in a manner that brings honorable self-respect.


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(Student) Braided hair, what does that symbolize?

The braided hair was all the rage among the aristocratic women of this period. I have seen an exhibit in Paris of all of the cosmetics used by aristocratic Roman and Greek women, especially for dying their hair, and then braiding their hair. Nobody wanted gray hair, and the hair coloring that they used —I think Jeannie mentioned this once in this class— was arsenic based, and they all knew it, and they all used it anyway. So Paul says women, we are not going to go for the fashion statement and gold and pearls and costly array, but instead, “That which becometh women, professing godliness with good works.” I think it is very important that Paul attributes godliness to women. Some people say that Paul did not like women. He is a misogynist; he demeans women, but there is a big translation problem here. Paul’s words were translated by people who were trying to please King James, and this is Elizabethan England. Elizabeth is gone. Let us get rid of the women, women need to be put in their place, and the King James Bible, as good as it is, does us some disservice in a few places. The Greek, I assure you, is very gentle, very complimentary. Women have an extraordinarily high place in Paul’s world.

Let me give you another one of the translations here. In verses 11 and 12, “Let the woman,” woman there means wife “learn in silence with all subjection.” That sounds bad, doesn’t it, but look at the word there. Let women learn in serenity. The Greek word hēsychia is a gorgeous word in Greek, one of the highest virtues that a person can aspire to. It refers to a sense of great peace of mind, being completely serene, completely comfortable with who you are, and with your relationship to God. It has a sense of stillness about it that is not just, “shut up and be quiet and sit there in silence,” but to learn with a feeling of peace and serenity. The word subjection, the word there is, I think, better translated with deference. They are to defer to their leaders, but not somehow being subjected to them, with peace of soul and so on.

Verse 12, this was the one question that was asked by someone who is not here. “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man.” When it says, “I am not going to have the women teach,” this is again on your chart, up toward the top there, the wife or the woman should not teach or domineer over her husband. Again, not quite so strident as what Paul says, and again, to be respectful, to be serene and then the answer, the reason for this, Paul looks back to Adam and Eve and this brings up one of the texts that I dealt with in London. For Adam was first-formed, then Eve, so Paul is looking back to that as the order, the priority within the family - the man is first. Realize that first does not necessarily mean the greatest and the most wonderful. It means because, as Paul says, the woman should love the man and the man love the woman just as Christ has loved the church, and just as Christ has given himself for the church. The higher you are, the more you have to give, and Christ gave everything, so the husband must give everything for the wife. That is what Paul is saying. People stop reading before they hear the whole sequence there, which, I think, is familiar to all of you.

(Student) When you think of all the generations of time in the whole world, nothing is different from this day to the beginning…as Solomon said, “Nothing new under the sun.” We are all learning at our own pace …

Elder Maxwell used to say, “There are no missed steps for anyone. We are all Adams and Eves; we all go through the same experience, the same opportunities, and the same cycle of mortality.”


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In verse 13, Paul sets up the Adam and Eve, and then in verse 14, he says, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” The point here is that Adam voluntarily sacrificed himself as Christ, as the high priest, to choose to stay with Eve. She has been cursed, but so has he, he has been cursed that he has to work, and by the sweat of his brow eat his bread, and she has been cursed that she will have pain in childbearing. However, verse 15 is interesting. “Nevertheless, she shall be saved,” and the word here is saved, not just spared in the sense that she will be able to endure child-bearing, but there will be a saving function and not just in child birth, but the word here is child rearing as well, in motherhood. It is in mothering that she will be saved. She will learn the principles of salvation if they…, and notice that it is a plural! What is the word they referring to? Adam and Eve! If they as a couple continue in faith, charity, holiness, and then this word sobriety that means wisdom.

(Student) It says she in line one, where it says, “She shall be saved? Joseph Smith says it should be plural.

“They.” That is correct. Not just all women, but as a couple, Adam and Eve. I think Paul is saying that marriage is the fundamental unit of the church, with both husbands and wives. Wives be reverent to and learn from your husband and do your part, and if you do it together in faith and charity and holiness and wisdom, then you as a couple will be complete and you will be saved. That goes back to what I said at the beginning about the high priest needing to be married.

(Student) Doesn’t it say that a rib was taken from Adam to make the woman?

That is right, in Genesis chapter 2.

(Student) Do you have anything to say on that? My dad always thought that the man has one less rib than the women.

I do not think that is true.

(Student) I heard President Kimball at General Conference say that the rib is figurative …

Repeatedly we learn that we are not told in Genesis how things happened. We are just told that they happened and why they happened and by what power they happened.

(Student) Can I just tell you a little story about being in Mexico in a little branch down there? The branch president was trying to tell the men to be good to their wives. It was mother’s day. You know they are terribly domineering to the women, and he said, “You know, the Lord took a bone out of his ribs so he could be by her side, not a bone out of your foot so you can step on her.”

That is good. We are already over time but another comment here?

(Student) Chapter 5 verse 23.

Chapter 5 verse 23? Let us look at that. “Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.” I have asked people in the near east, “Do you ever drink water?” And they say, “Absolutely not. The water in this world was putrid.” They would have to boil it, the water is filthy, so drinking water was not advised. They would add a little wine to the water because it has alcohol in it, and would kill the amoebas and help with all the dysentery etc. Because of the medical needs, they do not have other medicine, so Paul says, “Stay away from that water, you guys, and put a little wine in it.” This is not a problem in terms


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of the Word of Wisdom at all. Drunkenness is always condemned. Unless they were at a festival celebrating Bacchus and Diana, they ddrank wine only 1 part to ten parts of water.

Well we cannot conclude without saying something about the qualifications of a Bishop. Chart 12-9. What a wonderful list of virtues and responsibilities that we have there.

Chapter 4 verse 1, a prophecy about what is going to happen in the last days, is a scripture that is cited a lot. In 1997, President Hinckley once gave a priesthood talk to the young men, based on the scriptures in chapter 4of 1Timothy. He emphasized things like verse 10, “Therefore we labor and suffer reproach.” It is o.k. if people ridicule what you do if you are doing the right thing. Verse 12, “Let no man despise thy youth.” In verse 14, “Neglect not the gift that is given thee which was given by prophecy and the laying on of hands by those in authority.” That should remind you of article of Faith 5. In chapter 5 verse 8, we read, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially not for his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.” That is frequently cited as well. There is a lot of good advice in here for our lives in the Church, and I am certainly grateful that we have this wonderful letter.

Transcriptionist Carol H. JonesEdited by Rita L. Spencer


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