Discussion Questions
Old Testament
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Why did Rehoboam reject the advice of the old counselors to deal gently with his people? 2 Chronicles 10:1--15.
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Does the story of Asa in 2 Chronicles 16:12 mean we should seek healing from God, rather than from doctors?
New Testament
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Is salvation really as simple as Paul makes it sound? Romans 10:9.
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Romans 12:16 (KJV) says we should “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.” Does this mean we should not associate with rich people? If so, how are we supposed to succeed in business, if we only associate with poor people?
Notes and Commentary
Old Testament
Why did Rehoboam reject the advice of the old counselors to deal gently with his people? 2 Chronicles 10:1--15.
Rehoboam’s older advisers had also advised his father, King Solomon. Rehoboam instead accepted the advice of his less experienced younger counselors.
It might be natural that Rehoboam preferred the advice of the young men who had grown up with him. Nothing in the Bible suggests that Rehoboam was burdened with a particularly exemplary moral character. His choice was perhaps the easier course of action―simply crush those who opposed or questioned him.
Matthew Henry links Rehoboam’s punishment to the actions of his father, Solomon. The punishment was facilitated by the revolt which was the natural consequence of Rehoboam following the bad advice of his youthful counselors:
Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible. God often visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the children. Solomon forsakes God, and therefore not he, but his son after him, is forsaken by the greatest part of his people. Thus God, by making the penal consequences of sin to last long and visibly to continue after the sinner’s death, would give an indication of its malignity, and perhaps some intimation of the perpetuity of its punishment. He that sins against God not only wrongs his soul, but perhaps wrongs his seed more than he thinks of.
Does the story of Asa in 2 Chronicles 16:12 mean we should seek healing from God, rather than from doctors?
Asa was the king of Judah. When Asa was opposed by Baasha, king of Israel, Asa sought aid from the heathen Syrian king, rather than from God. Because of this choice, he lost the opportunity to defeat the Syrians.
Asa’s pattern of relying on himself and other people, rather than on God, continued in 2 Chronicles 16:12. Asa got a serious foot disease. Some have speculated it was gout. But rather than going to God for relieve, Asa went ONLY to his physicians. There is no sin in going to a doctor when you are sick. Many doctors are themselves Christians. The sin was in relying ONLY on doctors, and forgetting about God.
[Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary, 1871] Egyptian physicians, who were anciently in high repute at foreign courts, and who pretended to expel diseases by charms, incantations, and mystic arts. Asa’s fault consisted in his trusting to such physicians, while he neglected to supplicate the aid and blessing of God.
[Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, 1864] It is not the mere inquiring of the physicians which is here censured, but only the godless manner in which Asa trusted in the physicians.
[John Wesley’s Notes on the Bible] Sought not - He did not humble himself before God, but put his confidence in the skill and faithfulness of his physicians. His making use of physicians was his duty, but his trusting in them, and expecting that from them, which was to be had from God only, was his sin and folly. The help of every creature must be used, with an eye to the creator, and in dependence on him, who makes every creature that to us which it is, without whom the most skilful and faithful are physicians of no value.
New Testament
Is salvation really as simple as Paul makes it sound?
Yes, it is that easy.
“[I]f you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 (WEB).
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 (WEB).
In fact, we can’t earn our salvation:
Ephesians 2:8-9 (WEB). [8] for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, [9] not of works, that no one would boast.
But God does expect that as Christians we dedicate our lives to Him:
Romans 12.1 (WEB). Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
Romans 12:16 (KJV) says we should “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.” Does this mean we should not associate with rich people? If so, how are we supposed to succeed in business, if we only associate with poor people?
[Barnes’ New Testament Notes] That is, not seeking [high things], or aspiring after them. The connexion shows that the apostle had in view those things which pertained to worldly offices and honours--wealth, and state, and grandeur. They were not to seek them for themselves; nor were they to court the society or the honours of the men in an elevated rank in life. Christians were commonly of the poorer ranks, and they were to seek their companions and joys there, and not to aspire to the society of the great and the rich. Comp. Jer 45:5, "And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not." Lk 12:15.
Christians should seek the objects of interest and companionship not among the great, the rich, and the noble, but among the humble and the obscure. They should do it because their Master did it before them; because his friends are most commonly found among those in humble life; because Christianity prompts to benevolence, rather than to a fondness for pride and display; and because of the influence on the mind produced by an attempt to imitate the great, to seek the society of the rich, and to mingle with the scenes of gaiety, folly, and ambition.
[Burkitt’s Expository Notes, 1703] Mind not preferment, nor riches, nor vain-glory, but be content with and thankful for a middle state and condition in the world; which is far more eligible and desirable than a state of riches, plenty, and abundance, as being less liable to temptations.
[Adam Clarke’s 1810/1825 commentary and critical notes on the Bible] “Mind not high things”―Be not ambitious; affect nothing above your station; do not court the rich nor the powerful; do not pass by the poor man to pay your court to the great man; do not affect titles or worldly distinctions; much less sacrifice your conscience for them. The attachment to high things and high men is the vice of little, shallow minds. However, it argues one important fact, that such persons are conscious that they are of no worth and of no consequence in THEMSELVES, and they seek to render themselves observable and to gain a little credit by their endeavours to associate themselves with men of rank and fortune, and if possible to get into honourable employments; and, if this cannot be attained, they affect honourable TITLES.
“But condescend to men of low estate”―Be a companion of the humble, and pass through life with as little noise and show as possible. Let the poor, godly man be your chief companion; and learn from his humility and piety to be humble and godly. The [Greek] term , which we translate condescend, ... signifies to be led, carried, or dragged away to prison with another; and points out the state in which the primitive Christians were despised and rejected of men, and often led forth to prison and death. False or man-pleasing professors would endeavour to escape all this disgrace and danger by getting into the favour of the great, the worldly, and the irreligious. There have not been wanting, in all ages of the Church, persons who, losing the savour of Divine things from their own souls by drinking into a worldly spirit, have endeavoured to shun the reproach of the cross by renouncing the company of the godly, speaking evil of the way of life, and perhaps sitting down in the chair of the scorner with apostates like themselves. And yet, strange to tell, these men will keep up a form of godliness! for a decent outside is often necessary to enable them to secure the ends of their ambition.
[The People’s New Testament] Instead of seeking pre-eminence, we are to walk in lowly spirit like our Savior.
Random Quotes
"Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight."
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is."
"Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has."
"How to start an argument online: 1. Express an opinion 2. Wait"
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© Tom Truex 2014, Davie, FL