19
ideas. It would be entirely wrong to study the
scriptures just to enable us to speak and
teach others. The correct order was shown by
Ezra: ?For Ezra had prepared his heart to
seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to
teach in Israel statutes and judgements?
(7:10). Every teacher knows how much more
difficult it is first to do
the things we teach
others.
Ezra, preparing his
heart to seek the law,
brings us to the third
lesson to be learnt
from the Bereans:
?They were more
noble in that they
received the word with
readiness of mind? .
The word ?noble?
means literally ?high
born? and is only used
on three occasions in
the scriptures. In Luke
19:12 and 1 Corinthians
1:26 it is clearly refer-
ring to family pedi-
gree, and the idea that
in Acts 17 it means ?noble in mind? can only
be derived indirectly. The sense it carries
can be found from the same chapter. The
Bereans are being contrasted with the
Thessalonians- Jews who ?moved with envy,
took unto them certain lewd (wicked) fellows
of the baser sort ? and set all the city in an
uproar? (verse 5). The ?baser sort? were
literally the ?frequenters of the market?
(Greek: agoraios) - the first century
layabouts, probably low born, and certainly
not in the same social class as the
?honourable? Berean ladies (verse 12). But
Acts is not preaching eugenics. The point is
that the market mob were not at all inter-
ested in judging the apostles for themselves.
They did not care what they said. The
contrasting response of the more civilised
Bereans was to listen first to what Paul had to
say - an approach no doubt inculcated by
class culture. This is not to say that the
Greek culture was to be applauded, but the
readiness to listen was. After all, it was a
related inquisitiveness which allowed Paul to
preach on Mars Hill (Acts 17:18-20). But the
Jewish Bereans, whilst showing the same
willingness to listen, did not fall into the trap
of treating the gospel as entertainment, as
did the Greeks of verse 21, most of whom
were not interested in
pursuing the evidence
(verse 32).
A true estimation of the
scriptures will affect all
aspects of our Bible
study and the use we
make of scripture.
Since the author is God,
no word of it is without
purpose. Repetition of
words and phrases in
different parts of the
scriptures, ie quota-
tions, must have a
purpose. We have to
handle the word with
respect so that we do
not quote verses out of
context. We will want
to know, above all,
what the voice of God says, and so we will
use concordances, lexicons, etc to check the
accuracy of translations rather than picking
translations for their immediate subjective
appeal. We should search the scriptures for
guidance on personal and ecclesial decisions,
even when the conclusions which we reach
are painful to implement. Bible study will be
a joy, not a chore, and therefore we will
spend as much time as possible in listening to
the voice of God. We will not use scripture in
order to catch one another out or to gain pre-
eminence, or to attract the praise of our
brethren and sisters, for we are not of those
who handle the word of God deceitfully. And
in all things we are encouraged by the voice
of the living God for, ?Thus saith the Lord,
The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my
footstool ? to this man will I look, even to
him that is poor and or a contrite spirit, and
trembleth at my word? (Isaiah 66:1-2).
Willingness of Mind