All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir

By Beth Moore (Tyndale House)

Memoirs may be the most challenging of all literary genres. Although autobiographical, memoirs don’t cover a whole life but use stories to share a life theme. Still, the author faces temptations to embellish, revise history, gloss over frailties and tell less than the truth.

In All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir, Beth Moore’s honesty springs from deep commitments to her heavenly Father and her family. Although she waited until her parents were gone, the best-selling author sought the blessing of her husband, daughters, and siblings before recounting their intertwined stories that evoke a host of emotions but demonstrate God’s abiding faithfulness.

The book begins with a road trip as 6-year-old Beth describes the adventures of her mom, dad, maternal grandmother and all five Green children—Sandra, Wayne, Gay, Beth and Tony—in their Volkswagen van headed from Arkansas to Florida.  Amid their humorous camping attempt, Beth adds observations from adulthood as she does throughout the stories.

Often in chronological order, the author shares pieces of her life in rich descriptions of people, places and feelings as she invites readers to experience her laughter, tears, joy, pain and forgiveness. Glimpses show Beth’s baptism and love for Arkadelphia’s First Baptist Church, unspeakable things no dad should do, her mother’s depression, and Gay’s phone confrontation of their father’s “friend” after finding a hidden letter in his movie theatre office.

Relocation to Houston left Beth with deep loss, not just of home but of her two best Arkadelphia friends who died in an accident moments after she told them good-bye. The teen couldn’t stand to give up church. So, when her parents ceased attending, the high school student found her own.

Scholarships made college possible at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State) where Beth thrived academically and socially. The summer after her freshman year, her church needed someone to take the 6th grade girls to GA camp. The coed volunteered, and there while brushing her teeth, she clearly “sensed the Lord’s presence.” She immediately knew “nothing at all was different … but everything had changed.” God had called the 18-year-old to a lifetime of ministry and hunger for his word.

At Southwest Texas, Beth fell in love with Keith Moore, who brought his own tragedies to their marriage. The memoir details their ups and downs, the births of their daughters, and her spiritual growth with mentors like Marge Caldwell and John Bisagno, who took the former college dance team member from exercise/Bible study instructor to Bible teacher, partnership with Lifeway, Living Proof Ministries, Keith’s near-fatal fishing accident and years-long recovery, and finally, agonizing censure and heart-wrenching departure from the denomination she loved from birth.

As she began the memoir, so Beth Green Moore ends with a road trip, one that brings full circle God’s faithfulness in unknotting Keith’s knotted-up life and Beth’s as well.

Consider purchasing both audio and print copies of All My Knotted-Up Life. Beth Moore’s voice on the audio expresses feelings as only the writer can. But don’t miss the 8 pages of photographs in the print version. Either way, you’ll gain insights into God and the Bible teacher’s heart.

Kathy Robinson Hillman, former president

Texas WMU and Baptist General Convention of Texas

Waco

• The Explore the Bible lesson for Sept. 3 focuses on Mark 1:1-13.

Baptist Standard for many years. Each normally has a cost of at least $50 to produce.To ensure these lessons continue to be provided the rest of 2023 and into 2024, you can make a donation in any amount by visiting our donation page. In the comments field, note your donation is toward the cost of Bible studies.

How Mark begins (Mark 1:1)

Mark 1:1 was the first verse of God’s word written after the birth of Jesus.

Peter, chosen by Jesus to be leader of the church, knew the good news about Jesus also must be in written form to be shared with others. The apostles were aging. A day was coming when they could neither go nor speak. There was no written account of Jesus, though decades had passed since Jesus returned to heaven.

Peter’s longtime scribe was Mark. He describes Mark as “my son” in 1 Peter 5:13. We might wonder if the Holy Spirit led Peter to assign Mark the task of writing an account of what Peter had witnessed. These two men labored together to produce a document containing more spiritual impact than Genesis, Psalms and Isaiah, with Jesus alive in the account.

We see these elements of Peter and Mark’s writing:

• It was Holy Spirit-inspired.
• It is concise, fitting on a scroll, sustained like the Old Testament model with holy scribes copying it for locations and generations into the future.
• It is so descriptive of Jesus that he can become our Lord from just reading the words.
• It is full of Jesus’ words and deeds.
• It gives insight into Jesus’ vision for the church.
• It is accepted as the word of God by apostles, believers and new converts.
• It is useful for worship, teaching and fighting evil.
• It can be shared with anyone.

Mark’s scroll probably was finished between A.D. 60 and 70. Jesus lived on Earth between 4 B.C. and A.D. 29.

Mark’s mother was named Mary. She lived in Jerusalem where she often hosted believers in her large home. Early Christians wrote that Mary’s home was used for the Last Supper and was the site of the Holy Spirit’s coming on Pentecost Sunday. Acts 12:1-17 tells us believers prayed in Mary’s home for jailed Peter. As a young man, Mark likely met Jesus as he visited Jerusalem. Mark knew all the disciples.

Peter and Mark needed to select material from all Jesus’ words and deeds for just one scroll. How? The Holy Spirit’s answer seems to have been: “Peter knows Jesus. He remembers stories and actions of Jesus helping people. Write what Peter talks about in his sermons.” That is what Mark wrote.

Mark’s Gospel was soon followed by accounts of Luke, Matthew and John, each of which also was accepted by churches as sacred writings. The “good news” could now be heard from four different narrators as different collections of stories all inspired by Holy Spirit. These Gospels now have been read for almost 2,000 years. We cannot imagine our faith without these wonderful eyewitness accounts of Jesus.

John the Baptist prepares the way (Mark 1:2-8)

Prophet Isaiah wrote vivid descriptions of the future Messiah. His prophetic voice was heard and remembered even as his people suffered under 700 hard years of foolish kings, military defeats, loss of their country, exile into other lands, remnants rebuilding their homeland, foreign kings in control, revolts, and now Roman control.

Prophet Isaiah told of a messenger from God, having a clear voice in a wild place, sent to help the people of Judah prepare to be ready for the Messiah.

Prophet Isaiah’s foreseen messenger was John the Baptist, a miracle child of old Priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. John wore camel’s hair clothing and a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild honey. No one in Jerusalem would have dressed, eaten or smelled like him. John’s message was clear: “Change how you are living. Change now to get ready for the Messiah’s coming.”

People in town talked: “You have to go out there and see and hear this.” People went.

People understood John as he said: “Your life now is not what you will want when the Messiah comes.”

John asked them, “What do you regret?”

People had things they wanted to change about themselves.

At the Jordan River, John asked people to submit to a “baptism of repentance.” Repent, or change means: “Remember God, pray, worship, sing psalms, obey God’s law, and teach your children to be godly. Get ready for the Messiah.”

A waiting line formed. John helped each person to “fully dip into the water” to show they were a changed person, risen to live for God.

Baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:9-11)

When Jesus appeared at the Jordan in line with the others awaiting John’s baptism, Matthew tells us John did not feel worthy to baptize Jesus. Nor did Jesus need to repent.

Jesus could expect to experience what others in line did: worshipping God, living by God’s law, giving, loving others, praying, facing temptations, deprivation, pain and fatigue. Jesus had come to identify with people, to “fulfill all righteousness” as we would expect of the Perfect Lamb who would be offered in payment for the sins of the world.

Jesus insisted John baptize him, and John did.

The Trinity of God is present at the end of the baptism—the voice of our Father, the Son in flesh starting his ministry, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Three in One.

Testing of Jesus (Mark 1:12-13)

The Holy Spirit sent Jesus into the empty wilderness for 40 days to be tested. Jesus was hungry, thirsty and needed people. He was tempted by Satan to take shortcuts to meet his needs.

A person faced with a situation he or she doesn’t like will look for a way out. Satan helps with creative suggestions. It may be OK to flee, unless we are in a situation where God wants us to be or we would sin in the process of fleeing. Fleeing, as a habit, is risky.

Jesus said “no” to the temptations. Angels attended him, and Jesus came out of the wilderness having no sin.

Why would angels attend Jesus and not attend us?

Glen Funderburk has taught children’s Sunday school for many years. These lessons on the Gospel of Mark are written from the perspective of children.

• Lesson 10 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses on Psalm 91:9-12.

Is there such a thing as a guardian angel? Many people speak of having a guardian angel, and some churches teach that individuals have one with them from birth until death, never leaving them. Some churches even teach people to pray regularly to their guardian angels.

What do the Scriptures say on this subject? Nothing! It is not taught anywhere in the Bible, nor is the phrase “guardian angel” even mentioned. The closest thing to it is in Matthew 18:10, where Jesus is speaking about little children, “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” Many people have greatly misunderstood this verse and taken it as proof that there is a “guardian angel” assigned to every child, and perhaps to every Christian, regardless of age.

Jesus taught that children have angels who are interested in their care. However, if we try to find Scripture to substantiate the teaching that one angel accompanies us all our lives, we will be disappointed. I do not believe in a singular guardian angel, but I do believe in the reality of many guardian angels—which is far better. God sends the host of his angels to guard us and to keep us from hurting ourselves at times. In fact, this multitude of angels forms an impenetrable barrier of protection. The Bible uses the picture of a hedge of protection (Job 1:8-10) to describe God’s watchful care for us. Again, it is the same imagery of Psalm 91 and God’s angelic care.

You can pray for a hedge of protection around those you love. We do not pray to angels, but we do pray for God to dispatch angels to protect us, to protect our loved ones, and to deliver us. Parents and grandparents should pray for a hedge of protection around their children and grandchildren. Friends should pray for friends, and families for other families.

It is wonderful to be protected supernaturally and to be delivered, but in God’s mysterious plan, sometimes it is even better for Christians to go and be with Jesus. Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). On some occasions, the angels are present with our loved one, but God’s will for these angels is to carry that person’s soul and spirit into heaven. Another of the angels’ primary roles is to peacefully preside at our deaths, which we will study in a later lesson.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

Can You Just Sit With Me?

By Natasha Smith (InterVarsity Press)

Books about grief fill library and bookstore shelves. Some are sentimental and superficial. Some are cold and technical. Some are hammered out in the crucible of personal experience and offer helpful suggestions to others who are grieving. Natasha Smith’s book fits into the latter category.

The title—Can You Just Sit With Me?—is a three-fold invitation.

First, it is the author’s invitation to the reader to sit by her as she shares insights from her own experiences. Natasha Smith’s early acquaintance with grief came when she became pregnant as a teenager and made the unselfish—but deeply painful—choice to give up the baby for adoption. Later, she experienced the loss of two sisters, Angie at age 32 and Sharon at 42. She went through the unspeakable heartache of delivering a stillborn baby. She lost her father to cancer and a 28-year-old nephew to a gunshot wound. Smith transparently reveals her own faith-informed journey of grief.

The title also is God’s invitation to all who are going through grief. God does not intend for anyone to suffer alone. We worship a God who is big enough to handle the full range of a grieving person’s honest emotions. We worship a Father who knows what it is to experience the death of a beloved Son. We worship a Savior who showed us it is all right to weep when a friend dies, and who even knows what it’s like to feel abandoned by God. We worship a God who gives his Holy Spirit to us as the Comforter.

Finally, the title is an instructive invitation to readers to come alongside a person who is grieving and offer the gift of presence. Sit and listen attentively—not judging, not offering advice, and not trying to “fix” the person experiencing grief. Just sit and be fully present.

Each chapter ends with a suggested healing exercise for a person who is experiencing grief, along with an appropriate Bible verse and a prayer. This is the kind of book a pastor, deacon or care-group leader could offer to a grieving individual. InterVarsity Press will release it Sept. 26. It’s not too early to order a copy in advance.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bible lessons like this one have been an important part of the Baptist Standard for many years. Each has a cost of at least $50 to produce. To ensure these lessons continue to be provided the rest of 2023 and into 2024, you can make a donation in any amount by visiting our donation page. In the comments field, note your donation is toward the cost of Bible studies.

• The Explore the Bible lesson for August 27 focuses on Lamentations 3:19-33.

My first three decades of life were pretty smooth sailing. I did not really lose anyone close to me. I was able to complete my doctorate and land a job as a professor. I had an amazing wife and two healthy and happy children.  My 30s, however, took a totally different direction.

During that decade, I lost both my parents, was dismissed from my job, and my third child was born with significant birth defects. It was a very difficult time. Like many going through difficulties I wondered what God was doing and what purpose could be found amid the hurt I was experiencing. In truth, there were times when I questioned God’s goodness.

What I discovered was that God would use the bad times in ways the good times never functioned. The hardships I faced were less than what a lot of people go through, but they nevertheless impacted me in profound ways, especially in my understanding of God. Though things were dark for a time, there was light on the other side. God is good.

The book of Lamentations was written in the wake of the destruction of Jerusalem. Though Judah’s loss was a deserved consequence of her sin, the degree of loss and destruction the people faced was overwhelming and, to many, very confusing. The writer of Lamentations, traditionally identified as Jeremiah, attempts to use poetic form of acrostic laments to move the people to a point of discovering God’s ultimate goodness in the midst of their adversity.

Lamentations is made up of five poems/psalms. Unlike most western cultures, Israel used psalms of lament as formal expressions of grief. Though we might have trouble comprehending grief being so formal and fixed, it was a key instrument God used to teach and help his people.

All of the psalms in the book are acrostic in addition to being laments, except for chapter 5. The way these acrostics work is that each verse or stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is why each chapter is 22 verses, except chapter 3, which is 66 verses because the letters switch only after being used three times each. The use of these acrostics is probably meant to express completeness or wholeness of God’s response to Judah’s issues— both negative and positive.

From Despair to Hope (Lamentations 3:19-24)

The lament shows a repeated pattern of moving from negative feelings to positive ones. This approach connects the pain they were experiencing with the truth of God’s activity and nature. The writer notes that though the pain has brought him low (depressed), God’s chesed has kept him from falling. Chesed is a rich word in Hebrew. It means love, faithfulness, loyalty, kindness, mercy and goodness. It is expressive of the essence of God.

When life throws uncertainty and pain at you, it is not precepts and concepts that are going get you through. It is a relationship with someone you can count on. The passage ends with the writer noting Yahweh is his portion or inheritance. The realization that the land, the city and even the temple itself was not what mattered was central to healing. Hope is not in our circumstances, but in the person of God. That is why joy can exist in both gain and loss

How has God shown you his presence in your life? What steps and practices can you take to make you more aware of God’s value, even apart from what he has given you?

From Waiting to Seeing (Lamentations 3:25-30)

The second portion of our text contrasts waiting with seeing. The journey through the loss of Jerusalem was dehumanizing and devastating. The writer advises in such circumstances to wait on God’s movement.

The basis for such advice is the goodness of God and the efficacy of a relationship with him. He observes that such patience has its cost in suffering, but it also has the unmatchable benefit of seeing God’s purposes. In his particular case it was discipline or correction, in others it may be revealing his provision in the midst of loss. In either circumstance, God makes his ways clear to those who will look and see.

What are some ways we can distinguish between God’s correction and simply life’s hardships from living in a fallen world? Regardless of the cause, what are some ways we discover what is God wants us to know about him and ourselves as we travel through hardships we encounter?

From Rejection to Compassion (Lamentations 3:31-33)

In chapter 2 of Lamentations, we encounter the only reference to the Day of the Lord as a past event. This was an important realization of the immensity of the destruction of Jerusalem as more than just a personal or national loss, but as actually a cosmic movement of God. As the writer continues here chapter 3, he highlights the overarching flow of God’s activity was from judgment to compassion.

How does knowing God is motivated primarily by compassion affect your understanding of suffering? How does the fact that the writer places God’s sovereignty next to his compassion in hard times address the question of the problem of evil?  

Timothy Pierce, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.

• Lesson 9 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses on Luke 20:35-36.

Jesus clearly addressed whether people become angels after they die in Luke 20. He answered a question about who would be married in heaven. Jesus used it as a teachable moment to explain what life would be like in heaven. When Christians die, he explained, we do not become angels; we become something much greater.

We are God’s children. Jesus did not say we would be angels. He said we would be like the angels.

Many grieving parents mistakenly think an infant who dies becomes a little angel. If you are a parent who has experienced this heartbreaking tragedy, I hope you will be comforted to know God has something even more extraordinary in store for your baby. Your child’s heavenly existence is much, much more wonderful than becoming an angel. He or she is God’s special child and very dear to his heart.

The fantasy is that angels are human beings who have died. The biblical fact is that angels are spiritual beings created by God.

Where did we get the notion that angels are human beings? Again, folk tales, popular fiction and movies have promoted the idea until it has become almost universally accepted as truth.

Sometimes, even well-meaning Christians will say something that reflects this fantasy. When a loved one dies, someone may attempt to comfort the family by saying, “Well, God has another angel.”

We know they mean their loved one is in heaven, but God does not really have another angel in that person. If the deceased was a Christian, God has another saint who has died and gone to heaven. The idea of loved ones dying and becoming angels simply is not taught in Scripture.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

King: A Life

By Jonathan Eig (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

Readers who think they already know everything about Martin Luther King Jr. will discover new insights about one of the most influential figures of the 20th century in this comprehensive new biography. Jonathan Eig paints a richly textured portrait of a complicated and conflicted man who answered a divine calling that eventually led to his death by assassination.

In the most complete biography of King to emerge in the past three and a half decades, Eig begins at the beginning—with his family of origin, childhood and adolescence. Without falling into the trap of armchair psychoanalysis, he presents enough evidence to let readers draw their own conclusions about the lasting influence—positive and negative—the formidable figure of “Daddy King” had on his son’s life and ministry.

Some King biographers have focused almost exclusively on the personal, political or religious aspects of their subject. Eig skillfully weaves together the sometimes-contradictory threads of King’s life into a magnificent tapestry.

He gives overdue attention to Coretta Scott King and her own contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. He explores King’s complex relationship with President Lyndon Johnson, from their close partnership in passing key civil rights legislation to their sharp differences over the war in Vietnam.

He also grants due regard to theologians who helped shape the ministry and personal faith of his subject—particularly Rauschenbusch, Tillich and Niebuhr—while noting the points at which King differed from each in his understanding and application of the gospel.

Eig deals honestly with the high points and low points of King’s life. The list of individuals Eig interviewed fills three and half pages, and his documentation includes not only published materials, but also newly discovered archival sources. With access to previously classified FBI files and other documents, Eig frankly acknowledges King’s moral failures, notably in terms of marital infidelity, while also pointing to the burden of guilt King carried for his shortcomings.

Above all, Eig points to King’s deep faith in a personal God revealed in Jesus Christ, his unswerving commitment to nonviolence as taught in the Sermon on the Mount, his convictions about the transforming power of unconditional love, and his clear sense of God’s calling on his life.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard

• Lesson 8 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses on Philippians 3:20-21.

The Bible calls heaven a “better” place, compared to our existence on earth. In Hebrews 11:16 the writer described how the heroes of faith could live during times of difficulty—because they were longing for a “better country”—a heavenly one.

When Paul was writing to the church in Philippi, Paul used a triple superlative to describe the departure of soul and spirit to be with Jesus. He said that experience would be “very much better” (1:23). He described his struggle between wanting to remain on earth to help these baby churches get off the ground. But how much better by far it would be for Paul to be in heaven. He is torn. “Very much better” does not capture the emphasis of what he was saying. In fact, it should be translated, “Much, much, much more better.” That is not good grammar, but it is good theology.

Paul was not morbid or suicidal. He was willing to hang around gladly until God called him home, but he admitted that being with Jesus in heaven is far superior to any experience on earth.

So, what is so much better about heaven? I could list hundreds of examples, but they would all fall under several categories that encourage us about the wonderful eternal destination awaiting us.

For example, Heaven features a better government. No earthly system of government is perfect, because they are led by imperfect people. The government in heaven is simple; it is a benevolent monarchy. There will be no political debates or differences. Everyone will love and serve the King.

No spot on earth will ever come close to the beauty of heaven. In earlier lessons, we see John described heaven as having a crystal sea and a main street of gold with the river of life flowing down either side.

In heaven, we will also have a better mind. The mind is where fear, anxiety and despair often camp out. Can you imagine having such a clean, pure mind that you will never have a single thought that causes you to fear, worry or sin? That’s heaven.

In the Bible, Jesus explained to his disciples that God was preparing a place for them in heaven, and he used the imagery of a house. The King James Version of John 14:2 says of heaven, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” That is an unfortunate translation that caused some people to imagine we are going to be living in our own mansion, separated from everyone else like in a heavenly subdivision with huge lots. Elvis even crooned about having his very own mansion just over the hilltop, but Elvis was mistaken. The actual word in Greek is mone, which means “rooms.” One mansion, many rooms.

But do not imagine your own private room with walls and a door you can lock, like in a hotel, since there will be no need for locks in heaven. The biblical concept of heaven is sharing an enormous house with all your other heavenly family members from every continent throughout the earth for eternity.

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

• The Explore the Bible lesson for Aug. 20 focuses on Jeremiah 50:11-20,33-34.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bible lessons like this one have been an important part of the Baptist Standard for many years. Each has a cost of at least $50 to produce. To ensure these lessons continue to be provided the rest of 2023 and into 2024, you can make a donation in any amount by visiting our donation page. In the comments field, note your donation is toward the cost of Bible studies.

Punishment can be a tricky thing. The purpose of it should be to help the recipient learn not to commit the offense again. Punish too harshly or be too lenient and the lesson often is missed or misinterpreted. It is the rare punishment that not only teaches the guilty the intended lesson, but also those who are watching from the outside.

The our passage for this lesson comes from is part of a section in Jeremiah called oracles against the nations. These passages are found in nearly every prophetic book. In fact, some books, such as Nahum and Obadiah, are solely expressions of this type of prophetic utterance. Though the passages express God’s judgment on the surrounding nations, it is important to realize those nations never heard these words of judgment. Therefore, the key to interpreting them correctly is to ask how Israel would have heard them.

That Jeremiah leaves this section until the end of his book is significant. He is wrapping up his words of judgment and hope with a passage that offers the latter while alluding to the former. By talking about God’s judgment of Israel’s enemies, he shows that God is just and will punish the wicked. But the purpose is more than simply expressing that truth. The passage also serves to confirm that God’s judgment of Judah must also be just and to help the people of Judah see the lesson behind the whole journey God was taking them on.

Vengeance Exacted (Jeremiah 50:11-16)

Jeremiah begins with an explanation of why Babylon had to be punished. The Babylonians took joy in destroying God’s people and so they would go from a status of extreme greatness to one of tremendous devastation. The revelation serves three purposes.

First, the passage worked to remind Judah of God’s strength and power. That God could devastate a seemingly invulnerable nation was an important lesson for a defeated nation. During their time in exile, a great temptation for God’s people was to slip into was doubting God’s ability to take care of them. In a world where the power of a god was linked to his nation’s victories, the fact that God could overcome Babylon would become a source of hope.

Second, the passage serves to remind Judah how special they were to God. Jeremiah refers to the people as God’s inheritance. During their exile, it would be easy to question whether they were of any significance to him any longer. One of the reasons Judah maintained its identity and distinctiveness was the promise of restoration built around their special status to God as expressed in passages like this.

Third, the passage warns Judah that arrogance and disregard for God’s rule and leadership always leads to judgment. This truth serves to justify Judah’s presence in exile and to warn them that when Babylon did eventually fall, God’s people needed to resist the temptation to rejoice in the destruction.

What are some things in your own life that you only see one purpose or reality behind that God may be trying to do more with than that? What are some aspects of how God describes believers that give you hope in times of struggle or “exile.”

Return Promised (Jeremiah 50:17-20)

The middle section serves to make the purpose of the first section more overt. God reminds Judah of how he dealt with Assyria.  Around 663 B.C., Assyria reached the pinnacle of its power. The Assyrians were able to do what no other nation had come close to accomplishing; they reached and destroyed Thebes in southern Egypt.

A few years later, Nahum announced God’s judgment on the nation and prophesied its destruction. In 612, just 50 years removed from the height of her power, Assyria was destroyed and slipped into obscurity. By linking Babylon’s destruction to Assyria, Jeremiah was reinforcing the truth of his promises.

What events in Scripture and in your own life do you look to in order to rely on the truth of God’s promises today? Assyria fell 50 years after its apex, and Babylon would fall roughly 50 years after it destroyed Jerusalem. What does the rapid destruction of two great empires tell you about how we measure success and how fleeting it can be?

Redemption Assured (Jeremiah 50:33-34)

Jeremiah concludes with a promise of redemption. The term of redeemer was a familial term that expressed the role of carrying on the family line in the face of the death of the husband. Jeremiah places this image alongside that of an advocate—someone who argues someone else’s case. God fulfilling both of these roles reveals Judah’s future is secure. He would bring life from death and innocence from guilt.

How does Jeremiah’s description of God’s rescue of Judah mirror Jesus’ rescue of humanity on the cross? How does seeing the thoroughness of God’s investment in the redemption of his people make you feel about your own redemption?

Timothy Pierce, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.

• The Explore the Bible lesson for August 13 focuses on Jeremiah 42:7-22.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Bible lessons like this one have been an important part of the Baptist Standard for many years. Each has a cost of at least $50 to produce. To ensure these lessons continue to be provided the rest of 2023 and into 2024, you can make a donation in any amount by visiting our donation page. In the comments field, note your donation is toward the cost of Bible studies.

One of my children got married a few months ago. As you would expect, several family members and friends from out of town traveled here to East Texas to be a part of the services. In making plans to come out, they had to find a hotel where they could stay. So, they reached out to me. In response, I described the two towns with hotels and the parts of those towns which were the best to stay in.

The fact I lived in area, had a track record with the various locations and was a family member or close friend made me trustworthy. Interestingly, though they asked, some ignored my advice and did not have the best experience in the places they chose to stay. Apparently, being trustworthy does not always instill trust.

In our passage for this week, God comes to Judah through Jeremiah again—this time after the fall of Jerusalem. Some in the post-fallen Jerusalem thought going down to Egypt was the best option. God is warning these individuals that such a trip would only end in death. Though God has shown his word as true regarding the fall of Jerusalem and his omniscience meant he certainly would know what was to come, the individuals being addressed were struggling to trust him.

Option 1 (Jeremiah 42:7-12)

The background to this passage reveals a people who are wondering what is next. The city has fallen, many of their friends and family have been taken into captivity, and they are wondering what will happen next. Apparently, at least two groups had formed around the debate. One group was committed to going down to Egypt, believing it would be a place of safety from the Babylonian empire. The other group was waiting for a word from God about what to expect.

The previous chapter tells us the military leaders and officials already had made plans to go down to Egypt. So, as Jeremiah calls the people together to relate the word of the Lord, he already is facing an uphill battle. Through Jeremiah, God instructs the people to stay put. He even goes so far as to say he is ready to reverse the judgment he has expressed and turn it into a blessing. Such a switch is consistent with what he said about his relational nature back in chapter 18. All they needed to do was trust and obey.

What barriers stand between us and trusting someone, even someone who has a track record of success? What does it say about God, that even at this point, following the destruction of Jerusalem because of Judah’s sin, he is willing to change their fortunes?

Option 2 (Jeremiah 42:13-18)

Having put forward the carrot, God now presents the stick. God tells the people the fear of Babylon’s return that was motivating their actions would be the consequence of following through with their plan. God is presented as the Lord of angel armies as a means of expressing both hope and judgment. Those armies could be used to protect or to judge. Their mention is simply a reminder that Jerusalem ultimately did not fall to Babylon, but to God’s judgment.

If Jerusalem could fall to God’s judgment, so could Egypt. Such a conclusion should have been evident to the people involved since Nebuchadnezzar had risen to power primarily through the defeat of Egyptian forces at the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. Would Egypt fare any better in the present circumstance when Babylon has become more powerful and Egypt less so? God’s promise that such a defeat was imminent should they go down there should have made the reality even more certain.

Do you think people are more responsive to threats of judgment than promises of blessings, why or why not? How does this passage speak to the issue of reaping what you sow? How would you personally describe the relationship between God’s sovereignty and people’s responsibility as it relates to what God says in this passage?

Warned (Jeremiah 42:19-22)

The people had sought God’s direction. God had granted that direction. The people were now going to ignore it. Jeremiah’s point is that the people cannot claim ignorance and that judgment is all that remains. Like the people in the opening story above, they asked someone who was knowledgeable and who they on some level trusted, but in the end, they decided to go their own way. It should have been no surprise to them, therefore, that they ended up exactly where God told them they would.

Why do think these particular individuals decided to go against such a clearly stated word from God? While we do not have such a directly worded prophetic statement from God, we have some clear guidance from God about matters we face. What are some areas that you particularly struggle with obedience? What are the tools God has given us to be able to be more obedient?

Timothy Pierce, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.

• Lesson 7 in the Connect360 unit “Heaven & Angels: Our Eternal Home and Its Heavenly Hosts” focuses onRevelation 21:22-27.

If you wait until the last minute to book a vacation, there is a good chance all the flights to your destination already will be overbooked. Although you might get a room in a hotel, you would be much wiser to make a reservation in advance.

The same is true about heaven. Have you confirmed your reservation? I am asking because all the rooms in heaven must be reserved in advance. How do you do that? Very simple. The Bible says you must confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead in order to be saved (Romans 10:9-10).

The good news about your reservation in heaven is that it can never be canceled. Once your name is written in heaven’s book, it can never be erased. In his first epistle, John wrote, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

I have heard people say many untrue things about heaven over the years, but one of the most perplexing has to do with the confirmation process of making your reservation in heaven. “Well, nobody can know for certain that you’re going to heaven when you die,” some propose. Wrong. Or sometimes someone will say, “You’ll just have to wait until you die to see if you were good enough to go to heaven.” Not true. John was saying in this verse that we can know for certain our salvation.

Some of the sweetest people I know, people whom I believe have been Christians for most of their lives, have told me they wake up in the night wondering if in the end God will not let them into heaven because of something they have done or not done. That is not grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). That is still trying to earn it. That kind of thinking has a lot more to do with false religions than the gospel of grace that Jesus taught.

If you are a Christian and you struggle with assurance that you are saved and going to Heaven when you die, something is wrong. Either you are not grounded in the truth about salvation, or you have become a victim of the devil’s lies. One of Satan’s lies is to keep people from being saved by convincing them salvation has to be earned. If he cannot do that, his other great lie is to convince saved people they must work to keep it, or they will lose it. I call that the lie of legalism compared to the gospel of grace.

If you have placed your eternal trust in Jesus, and your answer is still “I don’t know” when someone asks you where you will go after you die, then I have good news for you. God wants you to move to a place of confidence and assurance—not confidence or assurance in yourself, but in God’s word. This is what 1 John 5:13 is all about. Let go of doubt and stand on the rock-solid word of God and come to full assurance of your salvation. Then you can say by faith, “I will be with Jesus in heaven.”

To learn more about GC2 Press and the Connect360 Bible study series, or to order materials, click here.

The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images & Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis

By Karen Swallow Prior (Brazos Press)

Stories shape us. Images influence us. Metaphors matter. And when it comes to evangelicals, they not only affect how we view and understand the culture around us, but also how we make an impact on it—for better or worse.

Karen Swallow Prior—an evangelical Christian, a scholar specializing in Victorian literature and an astute societal observer—explores the cultural trappings of evangelicalism. From Warner Sallman’s ubiquitous Head of Christ to the nostalgic prints of Thomas Kinkade, “Painter of Light,” she points out how much of evangelicals’ penchant for sentimentality and domesticity find their roots in the Victorian era. In fact, she concludes much of what evangelicals assume to be biblical truth actually is Victorian culture.

The Evangelical Imagination piercingly notes how evangelicalism often has elevated empire-building as exemplary—whether national expansionism or the growth of an individual entrepreneur’s wealth and influence. After all, evangelicals easily rationalize greater influence and expansion means greater opportunity for evangelism. Revivalists and missionaries in the 19th century, evangelicals in the 20th century and their Christian nationalist offspring in the 21st century quite willingly answered Rudyard Kipling’s invitation to “Take up the White Man’s burden.”

Horatio Alger’s rags-to-riches stories about the virtues of hard work and diligence continue to shape the evangelical consciousness. Beginning with the Puritan work ethic and its tendency to view material success as evidence of election by God, Prior connects the dots to consumer-oriented churches and a prosperity gospel that considers financial success as a blessing God owes to the faithful. So, evangelical heroes tend to be entrepreneurial megachurch pastors, wealthy televangelists and prominent leaders of parachurch organizations—along with “born again” celebrities and pandering politicians who seek evangelical approval.

The Evangelical Imagination challenges many of the underlying and unspoken assumptions of evangelical Christianity. Prior challenges readers to measure their faith by Scripture and to follow Christ, rather than conform to the expectations of an evangelical subculture.

Ken Camp, managing editor

Baptist Standard