27 Feb2012

2 Timoteus 2:1-26 – Getrou aan Jesus Christus

Written by Chris van Wyk. Posted in Timoteus

Die Christelike lewe sentreer om Christus Jesus, nie net in terme van ‘n eie persoonlike verhouding nie, maar ook in terme van ons bediening en publieke betrokkenheid. Timoteus word dus daaraan herinner dat hy sterk moet wees in die gemeente en gemeenskap deur die genade wat Christus Jesus aan hom verleen (2:1 – vgl Ef 6:10).

Daaruit vloei die opdragte wat Paulus aan hom gee voort, waarvan die eerste (2:2), die aanstel van betroubare leraars – nie net vir hom kan bystaan nie, maar ook kan sorg dat die waarheid van die evangelie nie in gedrang kom nie. Die gemeente is immers die draers van die waarheid.

Let op hoe Paulus vir Timoteus motiveer in sy bediening met twee leidende metafore.

2:3-13 – Soos ‘n goeie soldaat van Christus Jesus

Die eerste leidende metafoor kom uit die militêre wêreld, om sy deel van die ontberings vir die evangelie soos ‘n goeie soldaat van Christus Jesus te doen (2:3). Paulus gebruik die beeld waarskynlik omdat hy moet sterk staan in ‘n konteks van dwaalleraars en vastigheid en fokus moet bring vir die gemeente. Hy vul dit aan met die metafore van ‘n atleet wat volgens die reëls moet meeding en ‘n boer wat ‘n deel van die oes as beloning kry. Daarmee motiveer hy Timoteus nie net om sterk te wees nie, maar in sy ywer om reg te doen, ook die beloning in gedagte te hou wat God verseker vir hom sal gee.

Let op hoe Paulus dan terugkeer na die hart van die evangelie, Jesus Christus, wat nie net die Messias uit die geslag van Dawid was nie, maar uit die dood opgewek is. Dit is die boodskap wat verkondig moet word. Dit is die boodskap waaraan getrou gebly moet word, ten spyte van die ontberings. Dit is die boodskap wat in die wêreld geglo moet word, sodat ons uiteindelik saam met Christus kan leef en regeer.

Vers 13 het ‘n ongelooflike belofte. Waar vers 11 en 12 die deelname aan Christus se lewe en regering verbind aan ons volharding en bereidheid om ontberings te dra, sê vers 13 dat God se getrouheid groter is as ons ontrouheid(soos die wagtende vader van Lukas 15). Selfs al faal ons langs die pad, sal Hy ons nie los nie, en ons nie verloën nie. Groter liefde as dit, is daar nie!

2:14-6 – Soos ‘n goeie arbeider van God

Die tweede leidende metafoor kom uit die arbeidswêreld, om hom tot beskikking van God te stel as ‘n arbeider wat hom nie vir sy werk hoef te skaam nie (2:15). Paulus gebruik die beeld waarskynlik omdat Timoteus nie net bewus moet wees van wat die dwaalleraars verkondig nie, om hulle te kan teenstaan nie, maar ook moet weet waarop hy dan wel moet fokus. Paulus sê dit is om die woord van God suiwer te verkondig, sodat die gelowiges se geloof kan groei en vir die goeie werke van God beskikbaar kan wees.

Vanuit hierdie suiwer verkondiging van die woord van die waarheid moet hy gelowiges help om op te hou stry oor woorde, en verkeerde idees, soos dié idee van Himeneus (1 Tim 1:20) en Filetus, wat gesê het dat die opstanding (van die gelowiges) al reeds plaasgevind het (2:18). Deur hulle te help om op die fondament te fokus wat God gelê het, sal hulle dit kan regkry om nie net die ongeregtigheid te vermy nie (2:19), maar om ‘n voorwerp van besondere gebruik in die hande van God te wees (2:20-21). Paulus gebruik hier taal wat sterk herinner aan sy soortgelyke lering aan die Korintiërs (1 Kor 3).

Saam met die suiwer verkondiging van die woord van die waarheid moet Timoteus ook let op sy eie lewe, en jongmens begeertes vermy deur te streef na opregtheid, geloof, liefde en vrede saam met almal wat die Here uit ‘n rein hart aanroep (2:22). Let op hoe hy steeds vriendelik moet wees met mense van wie hy verskil, hom moet instudeer om ander te kan leer, en bereid moet wees om onreg te verdra, omdat dit doodgewoon deel van die pad van ‘n gelowige is.

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Chris van Wyk

Ek is gemeenteleraar by Somerstrand gemeente, Port Elizabeth. My passie in die lewe is om God bo alles te dien en gelowiges in geloofsvorming te begelei. I am pastor at Summerstrand congregation, Port Elizabeth. My passion in life is to serve God above all and to lead believers in faith formation.

Chris van Wyk

Jul 26, 2021 | #

Tate haal Mayer aan wat ‘n Babiloniese gebed aanhaal om die Psalm se betekenis te verklaar: “I call to you from distantness; hear me from nearness.” In Duits: “Ich rufe dich von ferne, höre mich von nahe.” Hier is Tate se volledige verduideliking van die betekenis van die Psalm.

The main value of this psalm probably lies in its metaphorical richness. The metaphors of the high rock, the strong tower, the perpetual dwelling in the tent of God, and the shelter under the divine wings enhance the prayer and contribute significantly to our repertoire of spiritual imagination. A well-stocked and fertile imagination is essential for spiritual strength, a strength that influences the whole being of the person and/or group that possesses it. The metaphors assist us to incorporate our own experience into the experience of prayer. Prayer should engage imagination both toward the one praying and toward God. The metaphors of the psalm pass into our own experience and expand our horizons. Walter Brueggemann has written of the Psalms:

The Psalms do not insist that we follow word for word and line by line, but they intend us to have great freedom to engage our imagination toward the Holy God.… We will take liberties as the Psalm passes by and moves out into the richness of our experience and then back into the awesome presence of God. That is the way of metaphor (Praying the Psalms [Winona, MN: Saint Mary’s Press, 1982], 35).

Without a good stock of metaphors and an active imagination, our prayers are crippled and reduced to flattened, formulaic expressions without much power.
Perhaps the dominant metaphor in the psalm is that of distance from God in v 3. A sense of far-awayness from the divine presence, an at-the-end-of the earth experience, seems to be endemic to the spiritual life from time to time (see, e.g., Pss 2:1; 10:1; 22:2, 12, 20; 35:22; 38:22 [21]; 71:12). Indeed, it is almost a continuous need: “The psalmist is here describing the human condition in existentialist terms: man constantly stands at the edge of the abyss, and only divine assistance can prevent his falling into it” (Dahood, II, 84). Werner R. Mayer discusses a provocative Babylonian prayer formula which says, “I call to you from distantness; hear me from nearness” (“ ‘Ich rufe dich von ferne, höre mich von nahe,’ ” 302–17). The formula seems to mean that prayer suspends the distantness between the supplicant and the deity. Breaking down a perceived distance and the creation of sense of nearness and presence is a major function of prayer. The Psalms are of great importance in the recognition of distantness, which results from various kinds of stress and distress, and in the closing of that gap, which threatens spiritual health and even life itself. The very recitation of psalms like 61 serves to diminish distance and enhance nearness and presence.

Tate, M.E., 1998. Psalms 51–100, Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

Onlangse kommentaar

Chris van Wyk

Jul 26, 2021 | #

Dankie.
Chris van Wyk

Jul 26, 2021 | #

Hi Loretta – jy is welkom. Jy kan by hierdie webtuiste inteken (https://bybelskool.com/subscribe/) of vir my jou selnommer stuur, dan stuur ek vir jou die bydraes per Whatsapp (Chris van Wyk – nul agt twee 574 9191).
Chris van Wyk

Jul 26, 2021 | #

Tate haal Mayer aan wat ‘n Babiloniese gebed aanhaal om die Psalm se betekenis te verklaar: “I call to you from distantness; hear me from nearness.” In Duits: “Ich rufe dich von ferne, höre mich von nahe.” Hier is Tate se volledige verduideliking van die betekenis van die Psalm.

The main value of this psalm probably lies in its metaphorical richness. The metaphors of the high rock, the strong tower, the perpetual dwelling in the tent of God, and the shelter under the divine wings enhance the prayer and contribute significantly to our repertoire of spiritual imagination. A well-stocked and fertile imagination is essential for spiritual strength, a strength that influences the whole being of the person and/or group that possesses it. The metaphors assist us to incorporate our own experience into the experience of prayer. Prayer should engage imagination both toward the one praying and toward God. The metaphors of the psalm pass into our own experience and expand our horizons. Walter Brueggemann has written of the Psalms:

The Psalms do not insist that we follow word for word and line by line, but they intend us to have great freedom to engage our imagination toward the Holy God.… We will take liberties as the Psalm passes by and moves out into the richness of our experience and then back into the awesome presence of God. That is the way of metaphor (Praying the Psalms [Winona, MN: Saint Mary’s Press, 1982], 35).

Without a good stock of metaphors and an active imagination, our prayers are crippled and reduced to flattened, formulaic expressions without much power.
Perhaps the dominant metaphor in the psalm is that of distance from God in v 3. A sense of far-awayness from the divine presence, an at-the-end-of the earth experience, seems to be endemic to the spiritual life from time to time (see, e.g., Pss 2:1; 10:1; 22:2, 12, 20; 35:22; 38:22 [21]; 71:12). Indeed, it is almost a continuous need: “The psalmist is here describing the human condition in existentialist terms: man constantly stands at the edge of the abyss, and only divine assistance can prevent his falling into it” (Dahood, II, 84). Werner R. Mayer discusses a provocative Babylonian prayer formula which says, “I call to you from distantness; hear me from nearness” (“ ‘Ich rufe dich von ferne, höre mich von nahe,’ ” 302–17). The formula seems to mean that prayer suspends the distantness between the supplicant and the deity. Breaking down a perceived distance and the creation of sense of nearness and presence is a major function of prayer. The Psalms are of great importance in the recognition of distantness, which results from various kinds of stress and distress, and in the closing of that gap, which threatens spiritual health and even life itself. The very recitation of psalms like 61 serves to diminish distance and enhance nearness and presence.

Tate, M.E., 1998. Psalms 51–100, Dallas: Word, Incorporated.
Hester von Wielligh

Jul 24, 2021 | #

Goeiedag!
Ek het die stuk oor ps 61 met waardering gelees. Wat is die Engels van die volgende aanhaling? “Ek bid tot U van ver, hoor my van naby.” (Tate, Word Biblical Commentary, Psalm 51-100)
Ek wil dit graag verder ondersoek.
Baie dankie en seën.
Loretta Pienaar

Jul 23, 2021 | #

Goeiemôre Ds van Wyk, ek sal dit baie waardeer as ek u boodskappe kan ontvang. Alhoewel ek boodskappe kry van ander Godvresende leraars, kan ek nooit genoeg kry nie in hierdie tye. Ek is geensins ondankbaar nie, maar te dikwels blyk dit dat mense nie gretig is om oor God te praat nie, of soms blyk dit dat hulle nie omgee nie. God seën u en u geliefdes.
Jan

Jul 20, 2021 | #

Geestelike leesstof dankie.
Chris van Wyk

Jul 16, 2021 | #

Die woord wegraping kom nie in die Bybel voor nie. Dit is ‘n afleiding wat gemaak word op grond van die beskrywing van Jesus se hemelvaart en ons ontmoeting met Hom in 1 Tessalonisense 4.
Chris van Wyk

Jul 16, 2021 | #

Hi, jy kan kyk wat ek geskryf het by week 80-84 van Prontuit die Waarheid (https://bybelskool.com/prontuit-die-waarheid-argief/).
Past C Tities

Jul 13, 2021 | #

Pastoor ek soek graag Meer inligting oor rampe veral geestelik

Dankie vir u wonderlik ervaring wat u met andere deel
Milana Van Rooyen

Jul 11, 2021 | #

Goeie dag

Waar in bybel staan die woord wegraping …
Skrif asb
Dankie
Millanie