Wenstrom Bible Ministries Marion, Iowa Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom wenstrom

1. Wenstrom Bible MinistriesMarion, IowaPastor-Teacher Bill Wenstromwww.wenstrom.org

2. Thursday March 24, 20111 Timothy: 1 Timothy 2:8-Paul Orders The Men In Ephesus To Make It A Habit Of Occupying Themselves With Praying By Lifting Up Holy Hands Without Anger And DissensionLesson #42

3. Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 2:1.

4. This evening we will note 1 Timothy 2:8.

5. 1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,

6. 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

7. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

8. 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

9. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

10. 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.

11. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

12. 8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. (NASU)

13. 1 Timothy 2:8 is the direct result of an inference from Paul’s statements in 1 Timothy 2:1-7, thus Paul is saying that based upon my statements in verses 1-7, I want you Ephesians to intercede in prayer in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.

14. “I want the men in every place to pray” is composed of the first person singular present middle indicative form of the verb boulomai (βούλομαι) (vee-low-meh), “I want”

15. and the articular accusative masculine plural form of the noun aner (ἀνήρ) (ah-near-deh), “the men” and the preposition en (ἐν), “in” and its object is the dative masculine singular form of the adjective pas (πᾶς), “all”

16. and the dative masculine singular form of the noun topos (τόπος) (toe-poce), “place” and the present middle infinitive form of the verb proseuchomai (προσεύχομαι) (prose-eff-koe-meh), “to pray.”

17. The verb boulomai expresses an apostolic order to the Ephesian men to intercede in prayer to the Father on behalf of the entire human race.

18. The noun aner refers to a male as opposed to a female.

19. Paul addresses the men here and not the women since they are to lead the church (1 Timothy 1:12; 3:2, 5; 4:11-16; 5:17).

20. In verses 9-12, he gives specific instruction to the Christian women in Ephesus as to how they were to conduct themselves and their role and function in the church.

21. Therefore, by addressing the men specifically in Ephesus here in 1 Timothy 2:8 he wants them to lead the prayer meetings in every home and school room that they met in for worship services.

22. The noun topos denotes a geographical place or region, which 1 Timothy 1:3 makes clear is the city of Ephesus and denotes the various geographical regions throughout the city of Ephesus and its surrounding areas where Christian men reside.

23. The adjective pas is modifying topos and is used in a distributive sense meaning “each and every” emphasizing the totality of Christian men who resided in and around the city of Ephesus.

24. It therefore indicates that Paul is ordering the Ephesian men in “each and every” area in and around Ephesus to intercede in prayer to the Father for the entire human race and in particular the unsaved in their geographical area.

25. The verb proseuchomai refers to corporate intercessory prayer by the Christian men in Ephesus on behalf of the unsaved of the human race.

26. The present tense of the verb is a customary present and denotes that Paul is ordering the Christian men in each and every geographical area in and around the city of Ephesus to “make it a habit of” interceding in prayer to the Father for the unsaved in their particular geographical area.

27. The middle voice of the verb is intensive indicating that Paul is ordering the Ephesian men to make it a habit of “occupying themselves” with intercessory prayer for the unsaved in and around Ephesus and the world.

28. “Lifting up holy hands” is composed of the accusative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb epairo (ἐπαίρω) (ep-pear-doe), “liftingup”

29. and the accusative feminine plural form of the adjective hosios (ὅσιος) (owe-see-oce), “holy” and the accusative feminine plural form of the noun cheir (χείρ) (here-deh), “hands.”

30. The verb epairo is used in a literal sense of “lifting up” or “extending” one’s hands in prayer to the Father and is a symbolic gesture of prayer.

31. The lifting up of one’s hands in prayer was a common Old Testament practice (1 Kings 8:22; 2 Chronicles 6:13; Nehemiah 8:6; Ezra 9:5; Ps. 28:2; 63:4; 141:2; 143:6; Lamentations 2:19; 3:41; Isaiah 1:15).

32. 2 Maccabees 3:20, 14:34 also mention this Jewish practice and it is mentioned in Gentile literature with respect to the pagan mystery religions (Deissman, Light, page 414ff.).

33. The practice is also noted in Christian literature outside of the New Testament (1 Clement 29; Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7:7; Tertullian, Apol. 30).

34. Paintings on the walls of the catacombs in Rome reveal that this posture in prayer was practiced by Christians of the first and second centuries.

35. Here in 1 Timothy 2:8 Paul introduces the hands of the Ephesian men as the way to address their conduct in a figurative sense.

36. The present tense is a customary present indicating that Paul is ordering the Ephesian men “to make it a habit of” lifting up holy hands in prayer.

37. The participle is a participle of manner indicating the manner in which Paul wants the Ephesian men to carry out his order to intercede in prayer for the entire human race.

38. It not only answers the question “how” they were to pray but also the attitude they were to have towards the Father and each other.

39. In Old Testament Israel, the actual outward act of washing the hands was an essential step to be taken before the priest could enter the tent of meeting (Exodus 30:19-21).

40. This visible outward act was to signify a presumed inward condition of holiness of the priest who was to performed his duties before the Lord.

41. The image of purified or clean hands acquired a metaphorical sense with respect to moral purity (LXX Ps. 25:6; 72:13).

42. So here in 1 Timothy 2:8 Paul who was of course a Jew educated in the Old Testament uses this image of purified hands in a metaphorical sense of the Ephesian men being in fellowship by having no unconfessed sin in their stream of consciousness and bringing their thoughts into obedience to the Spirit.

43. It denotes that they are holy inwardly with respect to their souls and outwardly with respect to their conduct or actions and speaks of them experiencing sanctification.

44. If they are not in fellowship, their prayers will not be answered.

45. If their souls are filled with sinful thoughts or their actions are sinful, their prayers for the unsaved will not be heard until they confess their sins to the Father (1 John 1:9) and stay in fellowship by obedience to the Spirit who speaks to the believer through the communication of the Word of God.

46. Thus, he wants the Ephesian men to be filled with the Spirit and to be walking by the Spirit.

47. In other words, he wants their souls to be totally and completely influenced, guided and directed by the Holy Spirit and as a result their words and actions, i.e. their conduct.

48. 1 Timothy 2:8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. (NASU)

49. “Without wrath and dissension” is composed of the improper preposition choris (χωρίς) (hore-eece), “without” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun orge (ὀργή) (ore-deh-he), “wrath” and the conjunction kai (καί) (keh), “and” which is followed by the genitive masculine singular form of the noun dialogismos (διαλογισμός) (theeah-owe-leece-mose), “dissension.”

50. The noun orge means “outbursts of anger” in the sense of expressing anger toward one’s fellow Christian since Paul is addressing the conduct of the Ephesian church in contrast to those Christians who followed the false teaching of certain pastors that produced arguments among believers (See 1 Timothy 1:3-4).