7:25 Now concerning
virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the
mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. 26 I think then that this is good in view of
the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27 Are you
bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do
not seek a wife. 28 But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin
marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am
trying to spare you. 29 But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened,
so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; 30 and
those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though
they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; 31 and
those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the
form of this world is passing away.
The most important thing to note in much of this chapter is
that Paul is giving advice based on his own opinion/wisdom. These are not
direct instructions from God. The second point to understand is that Paul
expected Jesus to return soon.
The rise of the Christian church threw the Roman Empire out
of balance. For a long time everything on the religious side had gone along as
normal. The Jews minded their own business and the Romans understood, tolerated
and even supported them. The rest of the Empire was a mixture of age old pagan
ideas and religions. Christianity was brand new. It was different and different
is always suspicious. On top of being different it hated by and a threat to the
Jews from the start and the Jews had the ear of the ruling Romans.
Remember that Paul was once Saul and was running around
rounding up Christians and killing them or putting them in prison and things
have not gotten better. On top of all that Jesus Himself said even the Jewish
temple would be destroyed so Christians knew trouble was coming on a massive
scale. Because of this Paul is giving pastoral counsel. He felt in trouble
ahead it would be better to be single but he wanted it clear that marriage was
not then nor would it be a sin in the future. Then he goes on to give some
seemingly bizarre counsel about pretending you have no spouse and pretending
you aren't sad if you are and are not happy if you are and act poor even if you
aren't. All this advice can be summed up by saying "Lay low and do not
draw attention to yourself."
The bigger question is what if anything can we draw from this
in our day?
Simply this: Live according to the times. Be wise.
Ecclesiastes 3 was made into a song by the Byrds in the 1960's. "For
everything turn turn turn. There is a season turn turn turn. And a time for
every purpose under heaven..."
When it is spring you plant. When it is fall you
harvest.
When it comes to the signs of the times there are no hard and
fast rules. Paul admitted such. His general advice for when trouble is coming
is to live as simply as possible. Today I would say the same. The economy is
fragile at best. Trump has taken taken the spotlight which has caused many to
forget that the United States has three times raised their debt ceiling in the
past few years. The Bible predicted chaos in Paul's time and it predicts
massive economic collapse in our time. Live simply. Learn to work with your
hands. Become as self-sufficient as possible. Don't build a bunker. Don't
become a prepper but think like a minimalist. Don't follow the crowd in the
latest fads.
Most of all trust God. There is no way to know exactly how he
future will unfold but there is a way to know Who holds you.
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