1 Timothy 2:8
by Don Costello

1 Timothy 2:8

I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

1. "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands"

a. Psalm 63:4 "Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name."

1). The Scriptures say we can bless God by lifting up our hands to him. Praise God that he has ordained in his grace and mercy that we can bless him by such a simple and pure act from the heart in lifting up our hands to him.

b. Psalm 141:2 "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."

c. What is the evening sacrifice? The Book of Exodus gives us some explanation.

1). Exodus 29:38-43 "Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.
The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:
And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fouth part of an him of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine fro a drink offering.
And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savor, and offering made by fire unto the LORD.
This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.
And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory."

c. One of the greatest highlights of the Bible, the calling of fire down from heaven, during the confrontation with the false prophets of Baal, took place at the time of the evening sacrifice.

1). 1 Kings 18:17-40 "And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, [Art] thou he that troubleth Israel?
And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.
Now therefore send, [and] gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.
So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then] follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Then said Elijah unto the people, I, [even] I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets [are] four hundred and fifty men.
Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay [it] on wood, and put no fire [under]: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay [it] on wood, and put no fire [under]:
And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress [it] first; for ye [are] many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire [under].
And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed [it], and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But [there was] no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.
And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he [is] a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, [or] peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.
And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.
And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the [time] of the offering of the [evening] sacrifice, that [there was] neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD [that was] broken down.
And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid [him] on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour [it] on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
And he said, Do [it] the second time. And they did [it] the second time. And he said, Do [it] the third time. And they did [it] the third time.
And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
And it came to pass at [the time of] the offering of the [evening] sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou [art] God in Israel, and [that] I [am] thy servant, and [that] I have done all these things at thy word.
Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou [art] the LORD God, and [that] thou hast turned their heart back again.
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that [was] in the trench.
And when all the people saw [it], they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he [is] the God; the LORD, he [is] the God.
And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there."

2). Looking at the wording of the verse, the prophets of Baal did their thing for at least seven hours. They started in the morning, went past noon and then until the time of the evening sacrifice, about 6 PM.

3). I would say that according to the description in Exodus 29:43, that God met with the people of Israel there at Mount Carmel and that the place was sanctified by his glory! Halleluiah!

2. "without wrath or doubting."

a. wrath [3709 * orge] [Zodhiates: Wrath, anger as a state of mind.]

b. doubting [1261 * dialogismos] [Zodhiates: Thoughts and directions, in 1 Timothy 2:8, in the sense of dispute, debate, contention.]

c. We need to realize that the lifting up of our hands to God is equivalent to the evening sacrifice of the Mosaic Covenant. Praise God! And we can do it any time we want, it does not have to be in the evening. We need to realize that when we do, things happen in the spirit! When we lift our hands in prayer toward the God of heaven in faith without anger or doubt, it will bless Almighty God!


My name is Don Costello. Ever since I received Christ in November of 1976 I have had a passion to study and know God's word.My wife Melissa and I have 5 children.

My e-mail address is [email protected]

I have a blog located at:
www.theophilus-loverofgodsword.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com







Thanks!

Thank you for sharing this information with the author, it is greatly appreciated so that they are able to follow their work.

Close this window & Print