Monday, January 9, 2012

2 Timothy 2:20-21: Vessels for Honor and Dishonor

2 Timothy 2:20,21 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 

My friend Cody recently led a men's Bible study covering these verses and the men attending were expected to study ahead and be prepared to share. This was one of those verses that at first glance seems a little strange. In my recent experience those have been more loaded with meaning than the more straightforward verses; not necessarily because there's more to be found there, but the harder to understand verses make me ask a lot more questions.
I started by looking up the word for "vessel" in the original Greek on Blueletterbible.com which is "skeuos". It literally means a tool or container. The Greeks also used it allegorically to refer to the human body, as they believed the body is a vehicle for the human soul. It was also used in Romans 9 in the exact same way comparing what I think are believers to either being vessels of honor or dishonor, except that Romans 9 goes as far as saying the vessels of dishonor were meant for wrath. Really reading all of Romans is what's needed to put this in more of a proper context, but the gist is that Paul is telling the Roman Church that even though all Jews were born of Isaac, not everyone born of Isaac was a true Jew. The descendants of Esau were rejected (9:13) and became the Edomites. Paul poses the question, "Is there unrighteousness with God?" Was it fair of God to "play favorites"? Personally, I think it's a joke whenever people, in our abysmally small understanding of the big picture, point a finger at God to doubt the only One who's never failed or been unfaithful. Unless you're willing to ask the question and get to other side of it though, I don't think you can really come to a complete trust in God. So Paul indulges those who would think that God is unjust. In the verses following, Paul basically says that none of us deserve anything good from God. Those of us who have received His mercy are fortunate because His mercy to us is completely unmerited. Paul goes back to the example of Pharaoh and points to the fact that God hardened his heart. He says that people point to that and say, "How can God find fault with Pharaoh is He's the one who hardened his heart?"(9:19) Ultimately we always have the choice. We judge ourselves and we judge God by saying that we are the masters of the law and that His way is not good enough. We've been saying it since Genesis 3:5. God allows us to make our own choice: His way, or our way. When we choose our way, God will still use us to glorify His name. That should not be encouraging though. Verse 22 says that for people who choose their own way, God will glorify Himself by showing patience and enduring their rejection of Him until they finally expend their entire lives in a pattern of rejecting Him, at which point their own judgment of themselves brings them to eternal destruction. The good side of that is that those of us on whom God has extended His mercy stand out as the ones who will share in God's glory. Again, not by our own merit, but purely by His grace.
Verse 30 ends this thought by summing up the fact that God saved the gentiles, who were not originally His chosen people, because in faith they trusted in God's righteousness instead of their own; the Jews however, continued to pursue their own righteousness by works of the law in the flesh.

Romans 9:33 Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.

Jesus was an offense because He said the righteousness of the Jews could never be good enough. The best person in the history of the world could never reach the perfection required to approach the absolutely 100% pure holiness of God. They wanted to hold on to their righteousness. They were in control of their righteousness, and it let them be their own masters instead of submitting and forfeiting their pride.

Now I believe that Timothy would have been familiar with the Romans 9 teaching, and that's why Paul only spends 2 verses on the idea. Timothy knew the broader context and what Paul was implying.

I understood more what Paul meant in 2 Timothy after this Romans 9 cross-reference, but still didn't feel like I really understood why he used vessels in a house as an analogy, so I went to another place "skeuos" was used.

Hebrews 9:21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the VESSELS of the ministry.

Jackpot! One thing to note is that when looking up words in the original language, just because the English word is the same in the Old and New Testament doesn't mean the original language had the same meaning in Greek (New Testament) and Hebrew (Old Testament). Here Paul (who I personally believe wrote Hebrews) gives us a definite link between the Hebrew and Greek word for vessel because he's referencing the items that were used to serve God in the Tabernacle. Their construction is outlined in Exodus 25-35 and their use is outlined in Leviticus 1-17.
In Leviticus 1:5 and 3:8, Moses is outlining God's instruction to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the vessels of the Tabernacle (namely the altar) to purify it and sanctify it for service. Interesting considered we as vessels are purified by the blood of Jesus who was the ultimate sacrifice.
There was another type of vessel in use in the Tabernacle. Common vessels were used by the priests after sacrifices were made in order to prepare and eat the meat that was allotted to them by God's law for their sustenance. Note that these vessels were made of clay and they could not be used to serve God, only man. If these vessels came into contact with anything holy, even the meat from the sacrifice which the priests were allowed to eat, it had to be broken immediately after use. If metal vessels were used, they had to be scoured, but clay vessels had to be destroyed. (Romans 9:22 "vessels prepared for destruction").
This really points to the interpretation that vessels of clay and wood are the works of man. They look godly and are in God's house, but are for people.
I began a search on how the words wood and stone were used in the original Hebrew, and it really backed up this understanding. Those words are used together 16 times, 9 of which refer to false gods, which are the lifeless works of man's hands. Ezekiel 20:32, Deuteronomy 28:36, and Deuteronomy 28:64 all demonstrate what happens when we try to replace God with man: we end up serving false gods of wood and stone.
Isaiah 37:19 and 2 Kings 19:17,18 tell us that these false gods of wood and stone are meant for destruction (another reference to Romans 9:22).

2 Peter 3:10 "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up."

1 Corinthians 3:10-23 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation [with] gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on [it] endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and [that] the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which [temple] you are. Let no one deceive himself, if anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness"; and again, "The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come--all are yours. And you [are] Christ's, and Christ [is] God's.

In Exodus 7 God through Moses turns water to blood. Interestingly enough, the Egyptians carried their water in vessels of wood and stone, which the Holy Spirit goes through the trouble of making special mention of in 7:19. This water was used for 2 purposes: sustenance and cleansing. Reading through the rest of the chapter, what God does is take their sustenance and their purity and shows it for what it is: death.
In Revelation 3:14-18, Jesus Himself is addressing the Church in Laodicea. Laodicea was a city known for several things: an eye salve that was exported throughout the ancient world, a special kind of black wool that was used in expensive clothing, immense wealth because it lay on a main trade route, and the worship of 3 particular Greek gods which are Zeus (god of thunder and characteristically erotic), Apollo (god of light), and Æsculapius (god of healing). Jesus has a stern rebuke for the Church in this city.

Revelation 3:17,18 Because you say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing"-- and do not know that you are wretched (vs mighty like Zeus), miserable(vs healed and enlightened like Æsculapius and Apollo), poor (vs their material wealth), blind (vs their eye salve), and naked (vs their luxurious wool)--. I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, [that] the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

Jesus shows the church of Laodicea that where they think they are the strongest in their flesh, they are actually their weakest. A study of the first 3 chapters of Revelation shows Laodicea to represent the modern day Church, but that's for a different study, though it is extremely appropriate for this study.



So What?


Our works of flesh, especially when done in the house of God, are nothing more than death (Exodus 7). Most if not all of us start off like that, thinking that God wants our works and thinking that we have to be good enough, but we miss the point. The work of Jesus Christ makes us good enough. The things we do that are driven by love for Him are the only things are acceptable to God and the only things that have any eternal value once all things are judged. The vessels in the Tabernacle were purified by the blood of sacrifices just like we are purified by the blood of Christ. If you take an honest look at yourself and your actions and find that you are attempting to please God with works of your flesh, there is hope.

2 Timothy 2:21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 

Now we may try to cover our fleshly works in false holiness.

Habbakuk 2:19 Woe to him who says to wood, "Awake!" To silent stone, "Arise! It shall teach!" Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all.

But only God can cover us, who ourselves are just clay (Gen 3:19). 
The vessels in the Tabernacle were not solid gold, but wood covered in gold (Exodus 25-27).We are sinful and unholy, but we are covered by the works of Jesus Christ, the same foundation Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 3. This foundation (the work of Christ, not our works) and what we build on that foundation are the only things that will last.
In Revelation Jesus counsels the Laodiceans to buy from Him "gold refined in the fire". How do we buy it? We trade our worthless works of the flesh for the perfect work of Christ.
We accept that we are not good enough and we stop trying to be good enough to please God. In humility we say, "Lord, I am poor and wretched and naked and blind," and we rest on the completed work of Christ.