Delve Into Luke-Acts & Paul's LettersSample

DAY 18 – 1 TIMOTHY

After being held prisoner in Rome for at least two years, the apostle Paul was released. he continued his work of bringing the good news about Jesus to new places and guiding and strengthening the communities he’d founded.

A particular challenge awaited him in the city of Ephesus. Paul had lived there for over two years and helped start a strong community of Jesus’ followers. Just before his arrest and imprisonment, while he was on his way to Jerusalem with the offering for the poor, Paul had a sense that some of the leaders in Ephesus would distort the genuine message they’d heard, to try to get rich and win personal followings. So he arranged a special meeting to warn them about this. After he was released from prison, Paul discovered that some of these leaders had done just what he’d feared. They’d misapplied some Jewish practices and borrowed others from the philosophies of the day to create a regime they expected believers to follow to supplement their faith in Jesus. Like those who opposed Paul in other places, they didn’t allow certain foods, forbade marriage, and stressed controversial speculations as the means to spiritual progress. At the same time, they were tolerant of immoral behavior. It appears their teaching was being spread particularly by younger widows, who had lots of energy and free time because they were being supported by the church, even though they didn’t really need this support as older widows did.

Paul was apparently only able to make a brief visit to Ephesus after his release before traveling to Macedonia on other business. He couldn’t address the problems he’d discovered by writing directly to the leaders in Ephesus, since many of them were now unsympathetic to his message and were questioning his authority. So Paul left his coworker Timothy in Ephesus and wrote him a letter that he hoped would give him the power and influence to begin setting things in order until he could get back to Ephesus in person. While the letter is addressed to Timothy, it’s clear that Paul expected him to share much of it with the community.

Paul begins the letter by restating for Timothy (and for the listening church) why he’s left him in Ephesus. Paul defends his own apostleship in the process. He states for the record that he’s deposed two of the church leaders, Hymenaeus and Alexander, because they’ve departed from the genuine teaching about Jesus. He urges the community to respect those in authority and to strive for “peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness”—just the opposite of the moral and social chaos the upstart leaders have created.

Paul then explains, to Timothy and the church, what kind of people their leaders should be, so that they can reject those who aren’t qualified and replace them with those who are. He also shows the church how to avoid the problem of younger widows “going about from house to house” spreading bad influences. Only godly older widows should be supported; younger ones should remarry and devote themselves to family life. Paul includes a special warning toward the end of his letter about the dangers of greed, which seems to be behind much of the trouble in Ephesus. (The renegade church leaders probably hoped to profit considerably from their followers.)

The letter alternates between instruction that seems directed primarily at the church and some very personal words to Timothy (for example, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young”). It’s likely that Timothy read much of the letter out loud to the community as he sought to carry out Paul’s instructions. Indeed, as Paul offers a final encouragement to Timothy, he also includes a greeting to the whole group. He hopes they’ll recognize the qualities of genuine leadership he has modeled over the years as he’s invested so much in them.

PRAYER: Thank You for giving me strength, considering me trustworthy, and appointing me to Your service.